Martyn Williams
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Posts by Martyn Williams
Sawiris takes charge of Koryolink parent
Nov 5th
Egyptian businessman Naguib Sawiris has taken over as CEO of the parent company of Cheo Technology, which runs North Korea’s Koryolink 3G cellular telephone network.
Sawiris assumed the top job at Orascom Telecom Media and Technology (OTMT) after the former CEO, Ahmed Abou Doma, stepped down for personal reasons. He had been CEO for less than a month, taking the job on October 1.
Earlier in October, Sawiris made his latest visit to Pyongyang.
He arrived in the North Korean capital on October 12 and left two days later. During his trip, he met with DPRK Premier Pak Pong Ju at Mansudae Assembly Hall and, as is customary, More >
Report: Twitter, Facebook blocked in North Korea
Nov 4th
North Korea has begun blocking access to Twitter and Facebook on domestic Internet connections offered to foreigners, according to a report last week.
If correct, the move is apparently the first active blocking of Internet access by the North Korean government and comes at a time when it appears to be slowly tightening the screws on outflow of information via foreigners and tourists.
The block on the two popular social media sites was first reported by the Pyongyang correspondent of Russia’s ITAR-TASS news agency and was later confirmed by NK News.
On the surface, it stops the immediate posting of images and messages on the two More >
North Korean malware hit thousands of phones, says Seoul
Oct 30th
Malicious software disguised as a computer game could have infected around 20,000 smartphones in South Korea, according to South Korean media reports quoting the country’s spy agency.
The games were offered through South Korean sites between May 19 and September 16 this year, the National Intelligence Service said in a report to parliament.
The apps have since been removed and the actual number of phones infected is unclear.
While phones were infected, the software doesn’t appear to have caused any damage but has left the phones vulnerable to eavesdropping and remote video taping, the reports said.
North Korea has often been blamed for cyber attacks on South Korean companies and More >
North Korea bans WiFi at embassies
Sep 9th
North Korea has banned the use of satellite Internet connections and WiFi networks by foreign embassies and international organizations unless they get government approval.
The switch, which came in mid August, gives credibility to an earlier report that unencrypted wireless networks at embassies were being used by North Korean citizens to gain uncensored access to the Internet.
Foreign missions and aid agencies were notified of the change in policy on August 20 in a communique from the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the full text of which was published on Monday by NK News.
In it, the country’s State Radio Regulatory Department said unlicensed WiFi More >
China detecting illegal border crossings with satellite
Aug 26th
China is using a high-resolution earth observation satellite to detect illegal border crossings from the DPRK, Chinese state media reported on Monday.
The Gaofen-1 satellite has been used to discover “about 10″ such crossings both on the China-DPRK border and in the Xinjiang Uygur region of northwest China, said China Daily reported, quoting the China National Space Administration.
The satellite has also been used to spot poppy plantations in Heilongjiang and Hebei provinces, marijuana growing in Jilin province and suspected oil smuggling off the coast of Fujian province.
Gaofen-1 was launched in April 2013 and is capable of taking images with 2-meter resolution, according to published specifications. More >
“Hack North Korea” focuses Silicon Valley on information flow
Aug 5th
A hackathon that aimed to find new ways to get information in, out and around North Korea took place over the weekend in San Francisco. The event, called “Hack North Korea,” was organized by New York-based charity Human Rights Foundation and brought together programmers, human rights campaigners and defectors.
Several teams spent the weekend working on ideas that would enable digital information to be concealed, hidden or otherwise transmitted without raising the suspicion of authorities. The ideas ran from the low-tech, using a catapult to fling things across the Yalu River that divides North Korea and China, to the high-tech, involving satellites, stenography and information More >
