Internet
Defector claims up to 3,000 hackers in North Korea
Jun 2nd
North Korea is continuing to strengthen its ranks of elite hackers and could have up to 3,000 of them, a North Korean defector said in Seoul on Wednesday. (Update: New information below)
Kim Heung-kwang, a former professor at Pyongyang Computer Technology University and member of the North Korea Intellectuals Solidarity group, told a cyber security conference that North Korea likely has around 3,000 hackers, according to local news reports.
The state previously had around 500, but raised the number last year when the cyber warfare unit saw its status raised, Yonhap reported him as saying. The unit sits under the Reconnaissance General More >
South suspects North in military spamming
Jun 1st
South Korean military personnel have been warned against opening suspicious e-mails and attachments as Seoul worries North Korea is further expanding its hacking activities, according to several media reports this week.
Around 60 officers who graduated from Seoul’s Korea Military Academy received e-mails that purported to be from fellow graduates, reports The Korea Herald.
The messages were sent from Hanmail accounts and four of the addresses used were “1co3p@hanmail.net,” “hoyon1241@hanmail.net,” “fmcph@hanmail.net” and “yeobdu@hanmail.net,” said The Seoul Shimun. The messages contained malicious code in attachments.
Breaking into personal computers through such spam mail is a tried and tested method for hackers all over the More >
DPRK’s Elderly Care Fund online
May 25th
A website for North Korea’s Elderly Care Fund is now online.
The site, available in Korean and English, introduces the organization and its aims.
The fund was recently established, according to a KCNA report from January this year.
It reported money for the organization will come from “the institution for protecting the aged and those donated by international organizations, charity organizations and overseas compatriots and others.” The new website is already reporting on an €800,000 project with the European Union to help the elderly in the DPRK.
The site also has a photo of what appears to be computer tuition for the elderly. The More >
More details on Star Joint Venture
May 19th
A couple of new details about Star JV, the company now responsible for North Korea’s connection to the global Internet, came to light this week.
They were included in a report from the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) about the reassignment of the country’s dot-kp domain to Star JV.
The report reveals the mission of the company and its president:
Proposed Sponsoring Organisation and Contacts
The proposed sponsoring organisation is Star Joint Venture Company, based in Pyongyang, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. The company is a joint venture between the Korean Post and Telecommunications Corporation, a governmental enterprise; and Loxley Pacific Company Limited. The More >
KP domain switch came after KCC Europe disappeared
May 19th
North Korea’s dot-kp top-level Internet domain was reassigned after the company running it, KCC Europe, ended service and went months without replying to queries from Pyongyang, according to a report released this week.
The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority, which oversees country-level domains and the IP address system, switched control of dot-kp from the Korea Computer Center to Star Joint Venture earlier this month. Star JV is the DPRK-Thai company that’s been putting Internet connectivity into Pyongyang.
The story of the domain change and what happened with KCC Europe is covered in a piece I wrote earlier today: North Korea’s Internet domain is More >
DPRK denies cyber attack on Nonghyup Bank
May 11th
The DPRK has made its first comment on allegations that it was behind a cyber attack on a large South Korean bank and, not surprisingly, has denied any involvement.
Last week South Korean prosecutors said they had found evidence that North Korea was behind the April attack, which brought chaos to the computer system and ATM network of Nonghyup Bank for several days. It was one of the most disruptive cyber attacks to-date on the South Korean financial system.
Prosecutors made the allegations after examining the laptop of an IBM employee working at the bank. The laptop was apparently used as a More >
North last, South falling in press freedom
May 5th
North Korea remains the country with the least press freedom in the world, according to the 2011 Press Freedom index from Washington, D.C., based Freedom House. The news isn’t a surprise to anyone that follows North Korea closely. There is a complete lack of independent media, official media is highly censored, and the government actively blocks foreign media from penetrating the country.
What’s perhaps more interesting is a drop in the rank of neighboring South Korea.
The survey ranks countries on 23 questions, assigning scores that are combined to provide a total. The total runs from 0 (best) to 100 (worst) and countries More >
Dot KP domain assigned to Star
May 3rd
Control of North Korea’s dot-KP Internet top-level domain has been assigned to Star JV, the North Korean-Thai joint venture that’s behind the recent wiring of Pyongyang to the global Internet.
The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA), which administers country code domains, updated its database on Monday, May 2, to assign the KP domain to “Star Joint Venture Company.”
This means control for the KP domain now rests with Star JV. Star took control of North Korea’s Internet address space last year and has been building up the North Korean Internet.
Switch of control to Star doesn’t come as a surprise as the company started More >
Voice of Korea website due Friday
Apr 14th
North Korea’s international broadcasting service, The Voice of Korea, will launch a website on Friday, according to a domestic radio report transcribed by BBC Monitoring. (The site has launched a day early. See below for update.)
The site is due to open on Friday, which is Kim Il Sung’s birthday, and will be available at http://www.vok.rep.kp .
The report didn’t detail what the website would carry, but judging from comments and emails I receive concerning the frequency schedule, daily recordings of the station’s programming would be appreciated by its listeners. The shortwave signal is sometimes difficult to hear.
Voice of Korea broadcasts in Arabic, More >
North Korea behind Internet attacks, says South
Apr 9th
South Korea’s National Police Agency says North Korea was behind cyber attacks that targeted 30 major websites between March 3 and 5, according to local news reports.
Websites such as the presidential office and Financial Services Commission were brought down by the distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack.
A DDoS attack involves flooding a server with so many requests that it becomes clogged and cannot operate. This is typically done by harnessing a vast network of computers to send the traffic simultaneously and continuously.
Rather than buy and build the computers, hackers usually build this network by infecting PCs with illicit software. At More >
