The state spy agency has detected a hacking attempt by North Korea in the form of a real-time phishing clone of the nation's leading web portal, Naver.

The National Intelligence Service(NIS) on Wednesday urged the public to refrain from accessing the domain "www-dot-naverportal-dot-com" due to suspicions that it was established by the North in a hacking attempt.

The state agency said while North Korea had, in the past, stolen user IDs and passwords only through a cloned login page, the latest site has the same real-time news and advertisement banners and menu bar as Naver's actual main page.

The NIS has shared such information with state and public institutions, as well as the Korea Internet and Security Agency, and relevant agencies are in the process of blocking access to the phishing site.

An NIS official said the spy agency is cooperating with foreign institutions to track down the hacking group's activities from an overseas server.