"Recently, the government raised the cybersecurity alert level, as there's an increased need to beef up cybersecurity due to North Korea's military provocations, the issue of deploying the THAAD system and the Constitutional Court's impeachment decision," Jeong Eun-bo, vice chairman of the Financial Services Commission, said during a visit to the Financial Security Institute in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province.

North Korea has apparently been behind the hacking of some major websites here in recent years, according to the South's intelligence community. China is also launching economic retaliation against South Korea for its move to allow the US to install the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense missile defense system on the peninsula.

Jeong specifically pointed out the growth of "new kinds of cyber threats" such as the spread of ransomware, smartphone hacking and DDos attacks using the Internet of Things.

He stressed that the authorities should stand ready for a swift and thorough response. (Yonhap)