The Military Manpower Administration of South Korea came under 1,607 cyber attacks in the past three years, a lawmaker said on Monday, citing a report from the agency to a parliamentary audit.

The online attacks came from 36 countries, in addition to home-grown hacking attempts. The majority of attacks traced back to South Korean Internet addresses, followed by the United States and China.

MMA stores and manages the vast database of those serving in the Korean military. The agency said it runs business and Internet networks separately, making it virtually impossible for outsiders to access the crucial database via hacking attempts and computer viruses.

Rep. Kim Jin-pyo of the Democratic Party said that more resources were needed to beef up security in consideration of rapidly advancing hacking techniques.

By Im Woo-jung, Intern reporter
(iwj@heraldcorp.com)