SKorea to train 3,000 'cyber sheriffs': report

South Korea plans to train 3,000 "cyber sheriffs" by next year to protect businesses after a spate of attacks on state and private websites, a report said Sunday.

The "cyber sheriffs" would be tasked with "protecting corporate information and preventing the leaks of industrial secrets," Yonhap news agency said.

In the event of cyber attacks, the National Intelligence Service, the country's main spy agency, would set up a taskforce including civilian and government experts to counter the online threats, it added.

The country already has a military cyber unit.

South Korean and US government and private websites came under sustained attack in July designed to swamp and paralyse operations.

Seoul suspected North Korea was behind the attacks, which targeted a number of websites including that of South Korea's presidential office, defence ministry, parliament and banks as well as the US State Department but investigators failed to track down who was behind the activity.

South Korea, where 95 percent of homes have broadband, is among the top countries in terms of access to the high-speed Internet, according to a survey by Boston-based Strategy Analytics in June.

(c) 2009 AFP