South Korea's Lotte Duty Free says website crashed after attack from Chinese IPs

Record ID: 348993

  • Title: South Korea's Lotte Duty Free says website crashed after attack from Chinese IPs
  • Date: 2nd March 2017
  • Summary: SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA (RECENT) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF SOUTH KOREAN FOREIGN MINISTRY BUILDING
  • Embargoed: 16th March 2017 09:38
  • Keywords: south korea china united states missile denfence system thaad lotte online duty free
  • Location: SEOUL AND SEONGJU, SOUTH KOREA/BEIJING, CHINA
  • City: SEOUL AND SEONGJU, SOUTH KOREA/BEIJING, CHINA
  • Country: South Korea
  • Topics: Crime/Law/Justice
  • Reuters ID: LVA003669NQRP
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Lotte Duty Free on Thursday (March 2) said a cyber attack using Chinese internet protocol (IP) addresses has crashed its website, the latest report of irregularity from a South Korean firm in China since Seoul decided to deploy a U.S. missile defense system.
    A distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack, which overloads servers with requests, began slowing all four language versions of the website at 11:00 a.m. (0200 GMT) and crashed them all around 12:00 p.m., Lotte Duty Free said in a statement.
    The ultimate origin of DDoS attacks is not necessarily the same as the IP addresses used.
    The attack comes after affiliate Lotte International Co Ltd on Monday approved a land swap to allow the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) system on what was once its property, in response to the North Korean missile threat.
    South Korean companies have reported increasing difficulties in China since deployment was confirmed in November, with Chinese state media calling for a boycott of South Korean goods. South Korean artists have also said performances had been canceled without clear explanation.
    "We are concerned as claims have emerged in parts of China saying there is discriminatory treatment against our companies. It is desirable (for China) to abstain from expressing words and actions that will not help the development of the two countries' relationship and the promotion of friendship between the two countries' people," said spokesman for South Korean foreign ministry, Cho June-hyuck.
    Neighboring China objected to the deployment of the system, which has a radar capable of penetrating Chinese territory, saying it will destabilize regional security while doing little to contain heightened security risk on the Korean peninsula.
    "I've noticed the relevant report. We have said many times on hacking issues that China opposes all forms of hacking and is willing to work with other nations to protect the internet security. As for the guesswork of Lotte, I won't make a comment. But I think there is no clear answer as to the reason (for the attack). This is just their guess," Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said at a regular news briefing
    Lotte Duty Free said it expects its website to be fully back online after 6 p.m. (0900 GMT) after strengthening security.
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