The National Intelligence Service is reportedly investigating a venture businessman who allegedly helped North Korean hackers in China access South Korean internet servers.

Intelligence agents on Tuesday searched the residence and three offices in Seoul of the suspect, head of an information technology company, identified only by the surname Kim, according to reports.

Kim borrowed a server from another South Korean IT company and allegedly leaked some of the server’s IDs and passwords, as well as access to his own company’s internet system to North Korean hackers.

The hackers then infiltrated over 100,000 personal computers, creating hundreds of zombie PC networks called botnets within South Korea’s cyberspace.

Hackers use zombie PCs to spread malware and launch distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks similar to those hurled against Shinhan Bank, KBS, and MBC in March and Cheong Wa Dae in June.

Authorities from the prosecutors’ office seized the affected servers and related documents during Tuesday’s hunt. After analyzing the confiscated materials, prosecutors will summon Kim for questioning and request antivirus software companies to distribute vaccine programs.

The IT company that lent Kim the servers deny they knew his intentions, claiming that managers had only let Kim know that “the server’s traffic was being inundated.” It is alleged that Kim conveyed this information to the hackers as well.

Kim has a four-year college degree in a science-related field and is a former civil activist. South Korean officials suspect Kim first met North Korean hackers while working for a joint North-South IT company in China in the late 1990s.

By Jeong Hunny (hj257@heraldcorp.com)