South Korean teenagers accused of cyber attack

Seven South Korean teenagers have been questioned over a cyber attack on the website of a government agency partly in protest at restrictions on playing Internet games at night, according to police sources.

The teenagers, including three elementary school students, were accused of staging DDOS (distributed denial of service) attacks last month in an attempt to paralyse the homepage of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, police said.

They allegedly launched the attacks out of protest against restrictions on nighttime Internet games and music for adolescents. A 16-year-old attacker faces a formal investigation while two others have been sent to the family court, police said.

South Korea, one of the world’s most wired societies, has adopted a “Cinderella” law to ban youngsters from playing online games past midnight amid growing concern about Internet addiction. There have been sporadic reports of deaths related to Internet game addiction.

Source: AFP