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Samsung Electronics handsets
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Computer virus comes after LG site hit
The Web site of Samsung Electronics’ U.S. branch was recently shut down for three days after being attacked by hackers. The shutdown marked another embarrassment for one of South Korea’s top electronics companies, after a local recruitment site of LG Electronics was hacked. According to Samsung Electronics and online security companies, a computer virus infected Samsung Telecom’s Web site (www.samsungtelecom.com) on September 6. Samsung Telecom, which supervises mobile phone sales in the U.S., closed the site for three days to deal with the virus. The site was hit by a ’Trojan horse’ program, which steals a computer’s user information. At that time, Internet security company Websense warned that such a virus had hidden itself in the Samsung Telecom site. Trojan horse viruses can weaken anti-virus programs and steal identities or passwords when a user logs into his or her Internet accounts, the online security company warned. Despite the potentially harmful nature of the virus, Samsung Electronics did not provide any details regarding the hacking. A company official said, "I don’t know why [the site was hacked], whether information was leaked, or how much damage [has been done]. Currently, the site has returned to normal operations."The company said that the hacker or hackers worked from an overseas server. On the evening of September 26, a South Korean hiring site of LG Electronics was hacked and personal information of some applicants was accessed. An official in charge, apologized to applicants, saying that "our security management wasn’t perfect." Internet users said they were surprised at the poor level of online security management by the nation’s top electronics companies.
