Washington rules out N.Korea as cyber culprit: official

After a year of investigation, US officials dismissed Saturday an accusation that North Korea crippled major US and South Korean websites last year.

Instead, they suspect South Korean hackers of scapegoating Pyongyang and provoking an-tagonism, the AP reported.

A large scale of cyber attacks erupted a year ago, paralyzing the websites of US and South Korean governmental organs and other key institutions

South Korea immediately blamed the North as the wrecker, but Pyongyang bluntly rejected the accusations.

Don Jackson, director of threat intelligence for Atlanta-based SecureWorks, a computer security consulting company, told the AP that South Korean sources had a mission and may have "wanted someone to be blamed for it (the attacks)."

Dai Xu, a military strategist, pointed out that Seoul established a military unit for cyber security at the beginning of this year, following the birth of the US Cyber Command.

"No matter where those attacks originated, the incident provided South Korea with excuses for upgrading its capability on cyber warfare," he added.

Meanwhile, South Korea urged the UN Security Council Monday to send a firm message to North Korea over the sinking of its warship Cheonan.

Agencies - Global Times