A comedy of errors
By Brad Franklin
China.org.cn, December 29, 2014
Though Sony's "The Interview" was a bad idea in the first place, the high-profile conflict and subsequent public outcry it caused turned this dud of a film into a financial success.
"The Interview," probably the product of a bad idea to start with, is now in American theaters and will spread to those offshore within days. I predict that what was probably going to be a financial failure for Sony is on its way to becoming a smashing success simply because those who didn't like the idea tried to stop it and the story got out to the public. I expect Americans are already filling the theatre seats, those in other countries will also go to watch "The Interview," and the people of North Korea will get to see it and will laugh themselves silly over the very idea that a film such as this could even be made. I'm sure that someone, somewhere, thought this film idea was good, and it may turn out that, in terms of making lots of money for Sony, they were right. They could not have foreseen the twisted path "The Interview" would take to success - the litany of bad ideas, ridiculous responses, reversed decisions and a high public profile that would led to the eventual outcome. If "The Interview" becomes a box-office success because of a path strewn with mistakes, compounded mistakes and outright bad planning, even the reporters who have been covering the story and scribblers like me will benefit from the bizarre story surrounding it.
Brad Franklin is a former political reporter, newscaster and federal government employee in Canada. He is a regular columnist for China's English Salon magazine and lives on Vancouver Island.
[Sony] [Canard]
N.Korea Tries to Keep Out Pirated DVDs of 'The Interview'
North Korea last Thursday launched a taskforce within the State Security Department to prevent Sony Pictures' film about a plot to assassinate leader Kim Jong-un from being smuggled into the North, according to a source.
The regime seems to have now turned its attention to blocking pirated DVDs of the caper "The Interview" from being smuggled into the North after it failed to prevent its release despite a hacking attack and threats against Sony Pictures.
[Sony] [Interview]
The Interview makes $18m after massive online sales
Sony Pictures comedy about killing of Kim Jong-un makes most of limited release amid surge of publicity due to cyberattack
Reuters
Monday 29 December 2014 03.21 GMT
Sony Pictures says The Interview has earned more than $15m in online sales and another $2.8m in cinemas, an impressive return made possible by the publicity surrounding the cyberattack blamed on North Korea.
The raunchy comedy that depicts the assassination of the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un made almost as much money through online distribution and in limited cinemas in its opening weekend as it would have in a wide release that was shelved after threats from hackers.
The studio said on Sunday the film had been purchased or rented online more than 2m times on the four days through to Saturday, making it Sony Pictures’ No 1 online movie of all time.
“That is a huge number,” said Jeff Bock, a box office analyst at Exhibitor Relations.
“This is almost what it was going to do theatrically before it was pulled. It made about what people expected, but in a completely different way.”
[Sony] [Interview]
US, North Korea fight Internet blame game
Exerts say both sides have reasons to accuse each other
By Yi Whan-woo
North Korea and the United States are engaged in a blame game over latest cyber attack on each side, after President Barack Obama accused the former of hacking Sony Pictures.
Both Pyongyang and Washington failed to present concrete evidence to the rest of the world in their criticism of each other for alleged hacking of their Internet connections and computer networks. According to experts, however, they both have "convincing reasons" to accuse each other.
"A series of cyber assaults against a country can only be made by governments or a similar size grouping," said Shin In-kyun, the president of the Korea Defense Network, a military think tank. "I think Pyongyang's claim is convincing that Washington was behind what crippled its Internet network."
A number of Pyongyang's state-controlled media outlets have been completely or partially blocked since Dec. 23 regardless of where their servers were located, according to Yonhap News Agency, Sunday.
[Sony] [Cyberwar]
False Flagging the World towards War. The CIA Weaponizes Hollywood
By Larry Chin
Global Research, December 27, 2014
Almost all wars begin with false flag operations.
The coming conflicts in North Korea and Russia are no exception.
Mass public hysteria is being manufactured to justify aggression against Moscow and Pyongyang, in retaliation for acts attributed to the North Korean and Russian governments, but orchestrated and carried out by the CIA and the Pentagon.
-
The false flagging of North Korea: CIA weaponizes Hollywood
The campaign of aggression against North Korea, from the hacking of Sony and the crescendo of noise over the film, The Interview, bears all the markings of a CIA false flag operation.
The hacking and alleged threats to moviegoers has been blamed entirely on North Korea, without a shred of credible evidence beyond unsubstantiated accusations by the FBI. Pyongyang’s responsibility has not been proven. But it has already been officially endorsed, and publicly embraced as fact.
The idea of “America under attack by North Korea” is a lie.
The actual individuals of the mysterious group responsible for the hacking remain conveniently unidentified. A multitude of possibilities—Sony insiders, hackers-for-hire, generic Internet vandalism—have not been explored in earnest. The more plausible involvement of US spying agencies—the CIA, the NSA, etc. , their overwhelming technological capability and their peerless hacking and surveillance powers—remains studiously ignored.
[Sony] [Canard] [Propaganda]
US rejects China involvement in Sony cyberattack
0 Comment(s)Print E-mail China Daily, December 30, 2014
The US State Department on Monday basically rejected a US Senator's claim that China knew about or was involved in the cyberattack against Sony Pictures.
China says no role in Sony hacking
The poster for the film "The Interview" is seen outside the Alamo Drafthouse theater in Littleton, Colorado Dec. 23, 2014. [Photo/Agencies]
US State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke said in a daily press briefing that the US government stands behind an FBI report which held the Democratic People's Republic of Korea solely responsible for the hacking of Sony Pictures.
"I can't imagine anything this massive happening in North Korea without China being involved or at least knowing about it," Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, told CNN's Dana Bash on "State of the Union" on Sunday. Graham called for additional US action against the regime to make it "feel the pain that is due".
[Sony] [Appeasement]
A Wildly Unproven Theory About “The Interview” Based on Ancient Hollywood Wisdom
by Clancy Sigal
Here’s how I figure: Sony’s Amy Pascal, producer Scott Rudin and the marketing people took one look at Seth Rogen’s dog and knew it was a loser. Desperate, they devised a quietly brilliant marketing strategy to make it look as if the North Koreans were criminally responsible for the hacking fiasco so that the film, on line and in theatres, would be sold out because patrons would go to see it as their patriotic duty. (In Atlanta’s Plaza theatre the audience stood and sang “God Bless America” before the picture went on.)
It would not surprise me if Sony had somehow persuaded, or maneuvered, Kim Jong-Un to do what he did (or didn’t do). Convince me otherwise.
Ancients ago as an agent I “repped” a sweet, innocent, virtually sexless comedy “The Moon Is Blue” by a client F. Hugh Herbert. Two aging bachelors (client David Niven and William Holden) campaign to seduce a young woman who stubbornly, propagandistically remains a virgin. No physical sex, no bad words, and we didn’t expect much box office despite its Broadway success.
[Sony] [Canard] [Ploy]
Washington 'confident' that North Korea hacked Sony
The United States stands by an FBI finding that North Korea was responsible for the hacking attack on Sony Pictures despite reports suggesting somebody else could have done it, a State Department official said Monday.
"We are aware that there have been some reports of that kind. However, as the FBI has made clear -- and the United States government stands behind the FBI analysis -- we are confident that North Korea is responsible for this destructive attack and we stand by that conclusion," Jeff Rathke, a State Department spokesman, said at a regular press briefing.
North Korea has rejected U.S. accusations that it was behind the hack on Sony, though Pyongyang praised the attack as a "righteous deed." The North has condemned a Sony Pictures comedy, "The Interview," as the sponsoring of terrorism for involving a plot to kill leader Kim Jong-un.
The Associated Press reported last week that the Sony hack has become "Internet's new mystery," suggesting the possibility that disgruntled Sony insiders or somebody else launched the attack and made it look like it was done by North Korea.
It also cited cyber-security experts saying it is very hard to pinpoint the culprit in a hacking attack.
[Sony] [Canard] [Evidence] [FBI]
FBI stands firm on N. Korea as doubts surface over who hacked Sony
By Lindsay Wise
McClatchy Washington Bureau December 29, 2014
WASHINGTON — Amid growing speculation by some cybersecurity experts that North Korea might not have been behind the hacking of Sony Pictures Entertainment, the Federal Bureau of Investigation on Monday dismissed the possibility that anyone else was to blame.
“There is no credible information to indicate that any other individual is responsible for this cyber incident,” the FBI said in a statement.
Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2014/12/29/251452_fbi-stands-firm-on-n-korea-as.html?sp=/99/200/328/&rh=1#storylink=cpy
[Sony] Canard] [FBI] [Evidence]
DPRK Internet, 3G mobile network paralyzed again
Xinhua, December 28, 2014
A photo illustration shows a woman looking at the Google Play purchase page for the Sony Pictures’ film “The Interview,” in Washington, DC as entertainment giant Sony released “The Interview” — a movie that outraged North Korea by lampooning leader Kim Jong Un — online for viewers in the United States on Wednesday. [Agencies via Shanghai Daily]
Internet and 3G mobile network of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) were paralyzed again Saturday evening amid bickering between the United States and the Asian country over an earlier cyber attack on Sony Pictures.
At Pyongyang time 7:30 p.m. (1030 GMT) Saturday, DPRK's Internet and 3G mobile network came to a standstill, and had not returned to normal at press time as of 9:30 p.m.(1230 GMT) Saturday, according to Xinhua reporters and Chinese facilities based in the country.
Earlier in the day, the Policy Department of the National Defense Commission blamed the United States for enduring instability in the country's Internet and denied any cyber attack on Sony Pictures.
The United States groundlessly linked the unheard-of hacking at the Sony Pictures Entertainment to the DPRK, a spokesman for the department said in a statement.
The spokesman urged the United States to conduct a joint investigation with the DPRK.
[Sony] [Cyberactivism]
The Impoverished Imagination of Seth Rogen
by Christopher Brauchli
The world is a comedy to those that think, a tragedy to those that feel.
Horace Walpole, Letter to the Countess of Upper Osory
It’s too bad that Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg didn’t create a funny and historically accurate movie about Kim Jong-un. It’s not that they lacked material-it’s that they lacked imagination.
The Interview is a comedy about the fictitious assassination of Kim Jong-un, president of North Korea. Judging from the response, the only criticism associated with the movie was criticism of Sony for withdrawing it from theaters before it premiered, a decision it soon reversed. No one has suggested that getting laughs from showing the assassination of a buffoon, who, nonetheless, is president of a country, might be considered tasteless. A fake execution of Kim would not be needed to make a really funny movie about him. Ordinary events embellished by a bit of artistic license would serve equally well. A movie about Kim could be introduced by some snippets from the life of another great president, Vladimir Putin. It might, for example, begin with the video showing Mr. Putin dressed in an all-white costume mounted on a motorized deltaplane ready to lead young Siberian cranes on their first annual migration. He dressed in white so the young cranes would think him one of them. A later picture could be included showing Vladimir airborne with the young cranes dutifully following their president. Another scene might be the one in which he emerges from a small submarine following his inspection of the remains of the naval frigate “Oleg” that sank in the 19th century. Linking Kim to Vladimir would establish that Kim is, like Vladimir, a truly great world leader.
[Liberal] [Sony] [Canard] [Interview]
N. Korea denies Sony hacking, offers joint probe
North Korea again denied its involvement in a cyber attack on Sony Pictures on Saturday and offered to jointly conduct an investigation into the case with the U.S. government, as websites of its major propaganda organs continued to remain unstable.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) last week said North Korea was responsible for the Sony hacking, without revealing evidence because of the "protection of sensitive sources." U.S. President Barack Obama said the U.S. would respond "proportionally" to the attack.
"Once again, we make it clear that North Korea has nothing to do with the hacking attacks against Sony Pictures," a spokesperson for the North's powerful National Defense Commission said in a statement carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency. "If the U.S. wants to continue to blame us, it must provide evidence right now. If not... the U.S. could jointly conduct an investigation with us behind closed doors."
[Sony] [Cyberwar] [Evidence]
Major N. Korean websites remain unstable for 5th day
Updated : 2014-12-27 13:04
Access to major North Korean websites remained unstable Saturday for the fifth straight day following U.S. hints at cyber retaliation last week.
The homepages of the North's main propaganda organ, Uriminzokkiri, and three other sites whose servers are based in China were inaccessible Saturday morning, since going down on Friday evening.
The website of Chosun Shinbo, a newspaper published by the General Association of North Korean Residents in Japan, could be accessed only intermittently.
Meanwhile, the homepage of the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) and the communist party's official newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, were stable.
North Korea experienced sweeping Internet outages for hours before coming back online on Tuesday following a cyber security row with the U.S.
U.S. President Barack Obama had earlier pledged a "proportional" response to the recent hacking of Sony Pictures Entertainment that was blamed on Pyongyang. (Yonhap)
[Sony] [Cyberwar] [China] [Japan]
US Thought-Control Goes into Loop over Sony Hollywood Hack
Finian Cunningham | 28.12.2014 | 00:00
The hysterical over-reaction in the US to the hacking of computers at Sony is worthy of a satirical movie in itself. A case of art imitating life, or maybe vice versa.
North Korea – the «Axis of Evil» – has been roundly blamed for the Hollywood cyber-attack by US President Barack Obama, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the corporate news media. Obama called it «a national security threat» while hothead politicians like Senator John McCain declared that North Korea had committed «an act of war».
Meetings have reportedly been hastily convened in the White House Situation Room to get a handle on the problem, which has resulted in movie theatres dropping the nationwide screening of a new film poking fun at North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un. (Forgotten in all the hype is the distasteful storyline of how the CIA plots the murder of a living head of state.)
Media pundits and celebrity actors like George Clooney have issued shrill statements labelling the hacking debacle as «an attack on free speech».
We can imagine how far hallowed American free speech would be tolerated if a foreign country made a movie which «satirically» depicts the assassination of Barack Obama.
The trouble is that there is absolutely no evidence to impute North Korea for the crime. The North Korean government has condemned the movie, The Interview, and Pyongyang may have welcomed the sabotage of Sony, which has been claimed by the self-declared hacker group, the Guardians of Peace. But the Korean state has flatly denied any involvement in the cyber-attack.
North Korea has even proposed conducting a joint investigation with the US authorities into the incident, which Washington predictably rejected. A spokesman for the White House’s National Security Council instead reiterated that «there is high confidence» that the Koreans did it.
This is presumably the same «high confidence» that the US authorities have expressed about Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, Syrian chemical weapons and latterly «Russia’s invasion» of eastern Ukraine.
[Sony] [Canard] [Evidence]
The Sony Hack and the ethics of free speech
Paul Vallely
Sunday 28 December 2014
With freedom of speech comes the responsibility to use it wisely, something the US hasn't shown over Sony
They dressed as Uncle Sam and arrived decked out in the Stars and Stripes in cinemas all across the United States on Christmas Day for the premiere of the anti-North Korean spoof movie The Interview. One cinema manager introduced the Sony film by reciting "My Country 'Tis of Thee". A coarse comedy – in which a pair of bumbling journalists are recruited by the CIA to assassinate North Korean premiere Kim Jong-un – became an improbable symbol of free speech.
"I'm here to show support for the US," said one university professor. And, added another ticket-buyer, "to show that we don't take any garbage from those guys in North Korea". One cinema manager concluded: "We are taking a stand for American values," and then added, without evident irony, "and hoping to make some money from the movie."
[Sony] [Free speech] [Propaganda]
The Interview film review: Controversial gross-out satire is broad, bawdy and bad - but undeniably entertaining
Had the North Koreans not taken such offence at The Interview, several other interest groups might well have
Tim Walker Author Biography
Friday 26 December 2014
It’s a new festive tradition: by the twinkling lights of the Christmas tree, my in-laws and I gathered around a laptop to watch Seth Rogen push a large, uncomfortable object into his own anus. The Interview, the gross-out satire that has united Americans in support of free speech and against North Korea, is broad, bawdy and bad – but also consistently, undeniably entertaining.
After its Christmas Day release was first cancelled by Sony Pictures, and then reinstated following a public outcry, The Interview was finally made available online on Christmas Eve, and in some 300 US cinemas on Christmas Day. The film is believed to have prompted the recent, devastating cyber-attack on Sony Pictures by hackers backed by North Korea, who also made threats against theatres that chose to show it. Yet the screenings have so far gone off without a hitch.
Stars Rogen and James Franco play two journalists – TV host Dave Skylark (Franco) and his producer, Aaron Rapaport (Rogen) – who seize the chance to take their trashy celebrity show upmarket when Kim Jong-Un agrees to an interview in Pyongyang. When news of their coup gets out, however, the hapless pair are enlisted by the CIA to assassinate the North Korean leader, using a poison-administering device that Aaron is at one point forced to secrete in his rectum.
It’s not hard to see why the Kim regime dislikes the movie, which – spoiler alert – depicts the young dictator’s demise. Yet the grisly death scene that had already circulated widely online following the hack is actually one of the least offensive in a film full of crude jokes, which climax with Kim weeping and “sharting”: soiling himself while breaking wind. It is this satirical emasculation of their Supreme Leader that should give Pyongyang the greatest cause for concern.
[Sony] [Interview] [Propaganda]
The Interview and Kim Jong-un farce is no laughing matter
Dom Joly
Sunday 28 December 2014
I don't think it's a publicity stunt. I just think that a really bad film got lucky
So it turns out that The Interview – the world’s most over-hyped movie since Ishtar – is a pile of poo… who’d have thunk it? I’m not a huge fan of Seth Rogen and James Franco at the best of times. The idea that they might have somehow made a biting satirical comedy that both exposes and ridicules the hideous Pyongyang regime was the only laughable thing about the whole affair.
I’m a total anti-conspiracy theorist type of guy. I can’t, however, stop thinking that, just possibly, the Sony HackingGate affair might just be the world’s greatest publicity stunt? There are queues round the block now to see this awful movie. These defiant punters are showing Pyongyang that “nobody tells me what shit to see …”
[Sony] [Interview]
N. Korea suffers Internet outage amid cyber rift with US
Updated : 2014-12-23 11:13
North Korea appeared to have lost access to the Internet Tuesday amid a cyber stand-off with the United States over the hacking of Sony pictures.
Major Internet sites based in the communist nation have been completely down since around 1 a.m. They include several sites run each by the Korean Central News Agency and the Rodong Sinmun, Pyongyang's two key mouthpieces.
There have been no problems accessing pro-Pyongyang web pages whose severs are located abroad, such as Uriminzokkiri and the Choson Sinbo.
[Sony] [Cyberactivism]
US calls for DPRK compensation for alleged Sony hacking
Xinhua, December 23, 2014
The United States on Monday insisted on blaming the Democratic People's Republic of Korea ( DPRK) for a cyber attack on the U.S.-based Sony Pictures Entertainment, demanding Pyongyang compensate for the damages caused.
"Well, as the FBI and the president and everyone who's now made clear we are confident the North Korean government is responsible for this destruction attack. We stand by this conclusion," said Marie Harf, deputy spokesperson of the U.S. State Department, at a news briefing.
The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) claimed Friday that it had "enough information" to conclude that the DPRK was responsible for hacking into Sony computers and posting online some of the stolen data in late November.
Sony last week canceled the planned Dec. 25 release of its comedy movie "The Interview," which depicts a fictional assassination attempt against the DPRK leader Kim Jong Un, after major U.S. cinema chains decided not to show the movie as the hackers warned movie-goers to stay away from cinemas screening the film.
While speaking at his end-of-the-year news conference Friday, U. S. President Barack Obama said Sony made a mistake by canceling the release of the movie. He also said he wished the company had contacted him directly before taking the action, vowing to " respond proportionally" to the cyber attack.
The DPRK on Saturday flatly rejected the U.S. accusations and proposed a joint investigation with the United States. In response, Harf said that, if Pyongyang wants to help, "they can admit their culpability and compensate Sony for the damages that they caused."
"We do urge North Korea to exercise restraint, to refrain from further threatening actions at this time. Obviously, we talked about this a lot in the last few days, but that's what we're focused on right now," Harf said.
Harf declined to tell in detail about what the U.S. retaliatory measures will be in response to the cyber attack, reiterating that the U.S. would implement its responses. "Some will be seen, some may not be seen," she said.
[Sony] [Canard]
Internet access resumed in DPRK after temporary suspension
Xinhua, December 23, 2014
Internet access resumed in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Tuesday morning, after a few hours of outage that came amid bickering between the United States and the Asian country over an earlier cyber attack on Sony Pictures.
Problems with the Internet access started to emerge on Sunday, with a handful of websites unable to be reached. On Monday afternoon, Internet connections were lost in parts of Capital City Pyongyang, and since around 1:00 a.m. Tuesday morning, the Internet access has completely broken down including 3g networks on mobile phones.
However, by around 10:50 a.m. the Internet access on computers and 3g networks have gone back to normal operation.
A staff member at the Internet management office told Xinhua Monday that the suspension was caused by overload operation, denying that the network had been hacked.
The U.S.-based Sony Pictures Entertainment was cyber attacked in late November, which caused huge damage to the underlying system of the corporate and prompted the company to cancel the Christmas Day release of its comedy movie entitled "The Interview," which depicts an assassination attempt on DPRK leader Kim Jong Un.
After the Federal Bureau of Investigation claimed its investigation found "enough information" to conclude that the DPRK was "responsible for" the attack, U.S. President Barack Obama said Friday that his government will "respond proportionally" to the cyber attack, for which he pointed the finger at the DPRK.
On Saturday the DPRK rejected the U.S. accusation and proposed a joint investigation with the United States.
No official comments have been made on the DPRK side regarding the temporary suspension of Internet use.
[Cyberwar] [Sony]
Seoul Asks FBI for Help in Finding Hacker
An online leak of nuclear reactor blueprints and manuals from Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power was carefully prepared and probably carried out by an organized group, investigators say.
A government investigation team here said the attack seems to have been carried out by hackers with a high degree of expertise.
Self-described as "president of anti-nuclear reactor group in Hawaii," the hacker or hackers posted confidential documents and photos about reactors on Twitter and Korean portals on four occasions since Dec. 15.
The investigators are not ruling out that North Korea is behind the attack given the hacker's use of North Korean-style wording in messages posted online.
A staffer of Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power monitors equipment at a nuclear plant in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province on Monday. A staffer of Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power monitors equipment at a nuclear plant in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province on Monday.
The investigators have asked the FBI for help in tracking the IP address of the U.S.-based Twitter account, while tracing the messages the hacker posted on domestic portals such as Nate and Naver.
[Cyberactivism]
Looking Beyond “The Interview” and the Sony Hack
by Binoy Kampmark
Does Pyongyang have such clout that a US-made film can actually be pulled from official release? That is normally the province reserved for local censors, certainly not hackers given a political mission. Those behind The Interview, including Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, must have found it all a touch bemusing. But even more significantly, the tables were turned on a film that featured an assassination plot directed at a living leader, the very much in office Kim Jong-un, albeit dressed up in the form of a comedy.
The saga began when it became clear that Sony Pictures had been the object of a cyber attack by the so-called Guardians of Peace. A trove of emails was made available, featuring, as screenwriter and novelist Clancy Sigal explained, “a marvellous study in how pictures actually get made, with plenty of bile, frustration, cross purposes, doublecrosses, misunderstandings and second thoughts” (CounterPunch, Dec 22). It was ego triumphant.
Screenwriter Aaron Sorkin was less enthusiastic, seeing such material as evidence of how media has given “material aid to criminals.” Pity the small army of Sony employees caught in this crossfire. “Wouldn’t it be a movie moment if the other studios invoked the NATO rule and denounced the attack on Sony as an attack on all of us, and our bedrock belief in free expression?” Unlikely – Hollywood behaviour is not governed by provisions of collective self-defence, however much Sorkin wished it were so.
Then came the flurry of accusations. On Friday, the US President decided that enough was enough. The trail, Obama suggested, led to needling emissaries of the DPRK – or at least, that is what his security advisors were telling him. North Korean authorities deemed the accusation that it has initiated the attacks as “groundless slander” and suggested, rather cheekily, that a joint investigation be made. In the words of a North Korean spokesman, “We propose to conduct a joint investigation with the US in response to groundless slander being perpetrated by the US by mobilising public opinion.”
[Sony] [Canard] [Evidence]
North Korea's internet temporarily blacked out
Intrigue over cause of lengthy outage after hacking of Sony and movie cancellation drew sharp response from Barack Obama
The Guardian, Tuesday 23 December 2014
Internet
North Korea’s internet connectivity problems have become progressively worse over the oast 24 hours. Photograph: Alamy
North Korea experienced sweeping and progressively worse internet outages extending into Monday, with one computer expert saying the country’s online access at one stage went “totally down”. The White House and the State Department declined to say whether the US government was responsible amid tensions over the massive hacking of Sony and cancellation of The Interview, a comedy sending up regime leader Kim Jong-un.
By Tuesday the US-based internet monitoring company Dyn said North Korea appeared to be back online. But “the question is whether it will return to the unstable fluctuations we saw before the outage”, said Dyn spokesman Jim Cowie.
Internet technology service Arbor Networks, which protects companies against hacking, said its monitoring detected denial-of-service attacks aimed at North Korea’s infrastructure starting on Saturday and persisting on Monday. Such attacks tie up a target’s internet equipment so that it becomes overwhelmed until the attacks stop or the spurious traffic can be filtered and discarded to allow normal connections to resume.
Given North Korea’s limited connectivity and lack of internet sophistication, it would be relatively simple for a band of hacktivists to shut down online access, and it should not be assumed that the US government had any part, said Dan Holden, director of security research at Arbor Networks. “Anyone of us that was upset because we couldn’t watch the movie, you could do that. Their internet is just not that sophisticated,” Holden said.
[Sony] [Canard] [Cyberactivism]
Debate roiling over possible North Korea involvement in “The Interview” hack
Posted on : Dec.23,2014 16:51 KST
A staff member removes posters of “The Interview”, a Sony film about an assassination plot of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, in front of a theater in Atlanta, Dec. 17. The release of “The Interview” was cancelled by Sony Pictures after a hacking attack, which a group called the Guardians of Peace claimed responsibility for. (AP/Yonhap News)
President Obama called for a “proportional response” to hack that led to a film being pulled from theaters
A fierce debate is raging in the US over how to respond to the hacking attack on Sony Pictures, the film studio responsible for “The Interview,” a comedy about an assassination attempt on North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
Speaking in a Dec. 21 interview with CNN, President Barack Obama characterized the attack as “cyber vandalism” and stated plans for a “proportional response.”
Meanwhile, members of the Republican Party, including Senator John McCain and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, called for going beyond a proportional response and retaliating more sternly against what they called a “new form of warfare.”
[Sony] [Canard]
Voice of Korea on the Sony hack
North Korea’s powerful National Defense Commission responded with its first statement on the Sony hack and accusations by the U.S. that it was responsible. The statement was read out on Voice of Korea, the country’s international shortwave radio service, and makes interesting listening.
It’s not exactly the same as the text statement that was carried on KCNA and appears to be a slightly different translation.
The most noticeable thing about the statement is how much the NDC appears to be picking up from cues in the U.S. media. Many of its arguments are similar to those being debated in public:
•Killing a head of state, even in jest, is in bad taste
•The accusation against North Korea is an assertion and isn’t based on solid technical facts
•If a hacker used U.S. code, it couldn’t be concluded that it was carried out by the U.S.
The full, and very long, NDC statement as carried by KCNA is pasted in below. It was sent on December 21, a day before Voice of Korea broadcast this message.
[Sony] [Canard]
North Korea’s Internet back after probable attack
North Korea’s Internet connection with the world has returned to service after a nine and a half hour outage that followed hours of patchy performance.
The cause of the outage is unknown, although several experts think it was probably due to an external distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack. This involves flooding web servers and other Internet hardware with so much traffic that they become overloaded and cannot respond to legitimate traffic. It’s not an actual hack of the system and so the situation is normalized soon after the DDOS flow of traffic stops.
Dyn Research provided this graph of the attack that shows whether it was possible to reach North Korea’s Internet from the rest of the world. The North Korean Internet is divided into four subnetworks and the graph shows that problems began a little after 0200 UTC on Monday. Connectivity was patchy until around 1630 UTC when access to all sites was impossible for a prolonged period.
Another company, Arbor Networks, which specializes in DDOS protection, has been observing a number of attacks on North Korean Internet infrastructure in the last few days, targeting web sites and DNS servers. The later are responsible for translating human readable addresses, like “www.kcna.kp” into a numeric equivalent that is used by computers in address traffic.
It said it had observed a peak attack of just under 6Gbps directed at North Korea. That’s a massive amount of traffic for a network that regularly carries so little. The same attack directed 1.7 million Internet packets of data per second at the country, easily overwhelming the equipment.
So what caused it?
“A long pattern of up-and-down connectivity, followed by a total outage, seems consistent with a fragile network under external attack,” said Jim Cowie of Dyn Research in a blog post. “But it’s also consistent with more common causes, such as power problems.”
Arbor preferred to answer the question ‘who didn’t do it.”
“I’m quite sure that this is not the work of the U.S. government,” said Dan Holden. “Much like a real world strike from the U.S., you probably wouldn’t know about it until it was too late. This is not the modus operandi of any government work.”
In fact, Arbor pointed to some posts online that seemed to hint at the involvement of cyber activists.
Here are three from “Lizard Squad,” which has claimed responsibility for several high-profile hacks in the past, such as those against Sony’s PlayStation Network and Microsoft’s Xbox Live.
Dyn puts the start of the longest attack at 1615 UTC, which means the tweets from Lizard Squad came about 4 hours after the outage began.
Twitter has also been seeing posts hashtagged #OpRIPNK, which means “Operation RIP North Korea.” That was first used in a tweet on December 18 by Twitter user “@TheAnonMessage,” an account which has since been suspended.
That corresponds to the first date that Arbor said it began seeing attacks.
A second account, called “@TheAnonMessage2? continued the tweeting and today sent these:
It’s impossible to tell whether either group was responsible, neither or perhaps both, but it reminds me of March last year when hackers took down the North Korean Internet connection for similar long periods of time. That time “Anonymous” claimed responsibility.
There’s a good chance this could continue for a few days … stay tuned.
[Cyberactivism]
U.S. May Put N.Korea Back on Terrorism List
The U.S. is considering putting North Korea back on its list of state sponsors of terrorism in the wake of a massive hacking attack on Sony Pictures.
U.S. President Barack Obama pledged to "respond proportionally… in a place and time and the manner that we choose" during his year-end press conference at the White House on Friday.
The North was removed from the list six years ago.
U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki briefed after the press conference that the U.S. has "the right to use all necessary means -- diplomatic, informational, military and economic as appropriate and as consistent with domestic and international law -- in order to protect and defend our nation, our allies, and our interests."
[Terrorism List] [Sony] [Canard]
North Korea threatens to target White House after claims it was behind Sony hacking
Pyongyang labels US ‘cesspool of terrorism’ and accuses Barack Obama of spreading rumours about cyberattack on Sony Pictures
Associated Press
theguardian.com, Monday 22 December 2014 05.47 GMT
An undated picture released by the North Korean Central News shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un surrounded by cheering soldiers as he is touring a front-line military detachment.
An undated picture released by the North Korean Central News shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un surrounded by cheering soldiers as he is touring a front-line military detachment. Photograph: Kcna/EPA
President Barack Obama is “recklessly” spreading rumours of a Pyongyang-orchestrated cyberattack of Sony Pictures, North Korea says, as it warns of strikes against the White House, Pentagon and “the whole US mainland, that cesspool of terrorism”.
Such rhetoric is routine from North Korea’s massive propaganda machine during times of high tension with Washington.
But a long statement from the powerful National Defense Commission late Sunday also underscores Pyongyang’s sensitivity at a movie whose plot focuses on the assassination of its leader Kim Jong-un, who is the beneficiary of a decades-long cult of personality built around his family dynasty.
The US blames North Korea for the hacking that escalated to threats of terror attacks against US movie theatres and caused Sony to cancel The Interview’s release.
Obama, who promised to respond proportionately to the attack, told CNN’s State of the Union in an interview broadcast Sunday that Washington is reviewing whether to put North Korea back on its list of state sponsors of terrorism.
The National Defense Commission, led by Kim, warned that its 1.2 million-member army is ready to use all types of warfare against the US.
“Our toughest counteraction will be boldly taken against the White House, the Pentagon and the whole US mainland, the cesspool of terrorism, by far surpassing the ‘symmetric counteraction’ declared by Obama,” said the commission’s policy department in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.
North Korea has said it knows how to prove it had nothing to do with the hacking and proposed a joint investigation with the US.
[Sony] [Evidence] [Media] [Heading]
Israeli expert: 'cyberspace has become a battlefield'
Col. Gabi Siboni (ret.) heads the Cyber Security Program at the Israeli Institute for National Security Studies. Considered one of the top experts in the field, Siboni publishes numerous studies and position papers on the issue on behalf of the institute. The most recent of these, published the week of Dec. 22, is devoted to the cyberwar between the United States and North Korea.
Summary? Print In an interview with Al-Monitor, the head of the INSS Cyber Security Program, Gabi Siboni, states that after the recent hacking of Sony Pictures, Western countries should consider cyberattacks as a real threat to their sovereignty.
Author Ben Caspit Posted December 23, 2014
TranslatorDanny Wool
In April 2015, Siboni will chair the Institute’s first major conference for the Institute in Washington. The event is being held in cooperation with major American organizations (including the Cyber Security Forum Initiative), and with the participation of several senior American officials specializing in the field, including Ann Barron-DiCamillo, director of the US Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) at the Department of Homeland Security. Various Israeli officials will also be participating in the event, including representatives of the Computer Service Directorate of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the economy and energy ministries.
[Cyberwar] [Israel] [Stuxnet] [Sony] [Chutzpah]
Sony Pictures Entertainment experienced cyber attacks by a hacker group under the moniker, "Guardians of Peace.
On November 24, 2014, Sony Pictures Entertainment experienced cyber attacks by a hacker group under the moniker, "Guardians of Peace." The attacks were in conjunction with the scheduled release of the film, "The Interview," which portrays the assassination of North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un. On December 17th, the FBI announced that it had, "enough information to conclude that the North Korean government is responsible for these actions." Sony Pictures ultimately decided to cancel the release of "The Interview," with the stated reason being that individual theaters had refused to show the film.
In an interview this past Sunday, President Obama stated that he does not view North Korea's hack of Sony Pictures "an act of war" but rather an act of “cyber-vandalism.” Additionally, the President said that the U.S. will review whether to put North Korea back on a list of states that sponsor terrorism, and stuck by his criticism of Sony's decision to cancel its plans to release the movie, "The Interview."
Question of the week: Do you agree with Sony Pictures’ decision to cancel the release of the movie "The Interview" after cyber threats?
( ) Yes.
( ) No.
( ) I don’t know.
( ) Other.
[Sony] [Canard] [Public opinion]
Strategic Negligence and the Sony Sideshow
NAPSNet Policy Forum
Peter Hayes
December 22, 2014
I. Introduction
Peter Hayes argues, “It is urgent to correct the fish-tailing, improvised response that the United States has adopted in response to the Sony attack and aftermath.”
“Each day that passes, North Korea is enriching uranium that can be used in nuclear weapons, it is improving its missile and other delivery systems, and it is reconstructing its plutonium-producing reactor. Time is on North Korea’s side, not that of the United States.”
“There is simply no substitute for the tedious, painstaking work of constructing a meaningful diplomatic and security relationship with the North Koreans. Not doing so is strategically negligent.”
Peter Hayes is Co-founder and Executive Director of Nautilus Institute for Security and Sustainability; Honorary Professor at the Center for International Security Studies, Sydney University, Australia.
II. Policy Forum by Peter Hayes
The imbroglio over The Interview is a sideshow that reveals that the Obama Administration, like the Bush Administration before it, has lost the plot with regard to North Korea. The real game is to stop, reverse and end North Korea’s nuclear weapons breakout. Its handling of The Interview has managed to distract the US government from this strategic imperative, increase the risk of war, including nuclear war, and made it harder than ever to advance American vital security interests in relation to North Korea’s nuclear threat.
The real video we should be watching is not The Interview but US Strategic Command’s deterrence symposium from August 14, 2014. At minute 23.35, recently retired US Major General John MacDonald who served until recently in US Forces Korea/Combined Forces Command/UN Command in Korea, advocates including assassination of North Koreans in STRATCOM’s policy options kitbag for dealing with Kim Jong Un over the next three years.
[Sony] [US NK policy] [Assassination]
Time to End the North Korean Threat
Author: Richard N. Haass, President, Council on Foreign Relations
December 23, 2014
Wall Street Journal
A debate is under way about how best to respond to North Korea’s cyberattack on Sony, an attack designed to punish the firm for making a movie that humiliated Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un. Ideas range from a cyberattack to weaken North Korean political and military assets to relisting the country as a state sponsor of terrorism, presumably accompanied by new sanctions.
These ideas are fine as far as they go, but they don’t go far enough. The serious threat posed by North Korea far transcends cyberspace. Only one approach is commensurate with the challenge: ending North Korea’s existence as an independent entity and reunifying the Korean Peninsula.
[Invasion] [Sony] [Canard]
FBI faces skepticism over claim that N. Korea hacked Sony
By Judson Berger
·Published December 27, 2014
·FoxNews.com
It's been a week since the U.S. government blamed North Korea for the cyber-attack against Sony Pictures Entertainment -- and many security experts still aren't convinced Kim Jong-un is the culprit.
The FBI's announcement, rather than settling the debate, has only fueled widespread speculation over the source of the attack.
Skeptics claim the evidence the FBI cited is flimsy and inconclusive. They question whether Pyongyang really had the motive, or the ability, to scramble Sony's systems.
And they're pushing a range of alternative theories.
[Sony] Canard] [Evidence]
North Korea slams U.S. over Internet shutdown, calls Obama a ‘monkey’
North Korea calls President Obama a "monkey" as it blames Washington for Internet outages in the country. (Reuters)
By Simon Denyer December 27 at 11:16 AM ?
BEIJING — North Korea on Saturday compared President Obama to a “monkey in a tropical forest” as it blamed the administration for disrupting its Internet access amid a hacking dispute related to the movie “The Interview.”
[Sony] [Canard] [Obama]
North Korea Goes Offline
By: Dan Holden - 12/22/2014
It was reported earlier today that North Korea was having Internet connectivity issues.
Given recent events involving Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE), these reports are of particular interest. The first question when you see this type of report is whether it’s purely a connectivity issue or whether an attack is behind it. While visibility into North Korean Internet is quite difficult, we are able to see quite a few attacks over the last few days.
The next question is who might be behind such an attack. The “who done it” is great fun, especially when it involves North Korea, given the events of last week. The real answer is that it would be easier to say who is NOT doing this.
I’m quite sure that this is not the work of the U.S. government. Much like a real world strike from the U.S., you probably wouldn’t know about it until it was too late. This is not the modus operandi of any government work.
[Sony] [Cyberactivism]
Sony and UN cases make US-North Korea dialogue more unlikely
Posted on : Dec.22,2014 16:26 KST
A staff member removes posters of “The Interview”, a Sony film about an assassination plot of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, in front of a theater in Atlanta, Dec. 17. The release of “The Interview” was cancelled by Sony Pictures after a hacking attack, which a group called the Guardians of Peace claimed responsibility for. (AP/Yonhap News)
Tentative steps toward rapprochement have been scuttled, and Pyongyang is hinting at a fourth nuclear test
The faint signs that the US and North Korea were taking steps toward resuming dialogue have run into more turbulence after the UN General Assembly passed a resolution about North Korean human rights abuses and after Sony Pictures was hacked.
In a statement released by North Korea‘s Foreign Ministry on Dec. 20, North Korea “completely rejected” the UN resolution. “We will redouble our efforts to strengthen our national defense ability, including nuclear weapons, through every available means,” the statement warned.
A statement from the Foreign Ministry has the highest degree of formality of any North Korean diplomatic message.
[US NK relations] [Sony] [Softwar]
U.S. Urged to Honestly Apologize to Mankind for Its Evil Doing before Groundlessly Pulling up Others
Pyongyang, December 21 (KCNA) -- The Policy Department of the National Defence Commission of the DPRK issued the following statement Sunday:
Strange thing that happened in the heart of the U.S., the ill-famed cesspool of injustice, is now afloat in the world as shocking news.
The Sony Pictures Entertainment, the biggest movie producer in the U.S., which produced the undesirable reactionary film "The Interview" daring hurt the dignity of the supreme leadership of the DPRK and agitating even terrorism and had a plan to distribute it, was exposed to surprisingly sophisticated, destructive and threatening cyber warfare and has been thrown into a bottomless quagmire after suffering property losses worth hundreds of millions of dollars
[Sony] [Terrorism]
Obama: North Korea’s actions are cybervandalism, not war
By Anita Kumar
McClatchy Washington Bureau
December 21, 2014
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama said Sunday that he does not think a recent North Korean cyberattack against Sony Pictures Entertainment was “an act of war.” But, he told CNN's Candy Crowley on “State of the Union” that it was a very expensive act of cybervandalism.
“No, I don't think it was an act of war,” Obama said. “I think it was an act of cybervandalism that was very costly, very expensive. We take it very seriously. We will respond proportionately.”
Obama said the United States will look at whether to return North Korea to the list of nations that sponsor terrorism after it was removed in 2008.
“We've got very clear criteria as to what it means for a state to sponsor terrorism,” he said. “And we don't make those judgments just based on the news of the day. We look systematically at what's been done and based on those facts, we'll make those determinations in the future.”
[Sony] [Canard]
Inspector O Goes to the Movies
By James Church
22 December 2014
“Seen any good movies lately?”
Inspector O was sitting on a beach chair under a big red and white umbrella, sipping a drink with a slice of pineapple and reading an old copy of Variety, so I figured it was a harmless question. Too late I realized it sounded like a jibe.
To my surprise, O merely smiled.
“Nice try,” he said. “But as you can see, I’m unflappable these days.”
“And why is that?” I asked. I sat down next to next to him and brushed the sand from my shoes.
“You people are so fussy.” O took a sip of his drink. “You want one?”
“No, thank you. Why am I fussy?”
“You are saved from having to spend money on one more bad movie, and all you do is complain and threaten retaliation.”
[Sony] [Canard]
China condemns cyberattacks, but says no proof North Korea hacked Sony
By Megha Rajagopalan and Steve Holland
Beijing/Washington Mon Dec 22, 2014 8:22am EST
(Reuters) - China said on Monday it opposed all forms of cyberattacks but there was no proof that North Korea was responsible for the hacking of Sony Pictures, as the United States has said.
North Korea has denied it was to blame and has vowed to hit back against any U.S. retaliation, threatening the White House and the Pentagon. The hackers said they were incensed by a Sony comedy about a fictional assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, which the studio has pulled.
China made no reference to calls by the United States for joint action with it and other countries to counter any similar cyberattacks.
[Sony] [Canard]
DPRK proposes joint Sony probe
Xinhua, December 20, 2014
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Saturday rejected the U.S. accusation that Pyongyang was behind a recent cyber attack on Sony Pictures and proposed conducting a joint investigation with the United States.
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Saturday rejected the U.S. accusation that Pyongyang was behind a recent cyber attack on Sony Pictures and proposed conducting a joint investigation with the United States.
The attack has prompted the U.S.-based Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) to cancel the Christmas Day release of its comedy movie entitled "The Interview," which depicts an assassination attempt on DPRK leader Kim Jong Un.
During the year-end news conference on Friday, U.S. President Barack Obama called the SPE's decision to cancel the movie release "a mistake," saying his government will "respond proportionally" to the cyber attack, for which he pointed the finger at the DPRK.
Early Friday, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) claimed its investigation found what it called "enough information" to conclude that the DPRK was "responsible for" the attack, including linking the so-called data deletion malware used in this attack to "other malware that the FBI knows North Korean actors previously developed."
"There were similarities in specific lines of code, encryption algorithms, data deletion methods, and compromised networks," it said in a statement.
But the DPRK rejected the accusation by saying "clear evidence is needed to charge a sovereign state with a crime."
"Reference to the past cyber attacks quite irrelevant with the DPRK and a string of presumptive assertions such as 'similarity' and 'repetition' can convince no one," a DPRK foreign ministry spokesman was quoted by the official KCNA news agency as saying.
The spokesman said in a statement that the DPRK will target its retaliation at only those responsible for anti-DPRK acts and their bases, but will not get involved in terrorist attacks on innocent audience in theaters.
"The army of the DPRK has the will and ability to do so," said the statement.
"We propose the U.S. side conducting a joint investigation into the case given that Washington is slandering Pyongyang by spreading unfounded rumor," it said, adding that "we have a way to prove that we have nothing to do with the case."
It also warned the United States of serious consequences should it reject the proposal and insist on taking responsive measures.
[Sony] [Cyberactivism] [Canard] [Evidence]
North Korea demands joint inquiry with US into Sony Pictures hack
Pyongyang denies responsibility for cyber-attack and threatens grave consequences if Washington continues to blame it
Staff and agencies
theguardian.com, Saturday 20 December 2014 12.46 GMT
North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-un
North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-un. Sony's film The Interview, which it pulled following the cyber-attack, depicts Kim's assassination. Photograph: KCNA/EPA
North Korea has proposed holding a joint inquiry with the US into the hacking of Sony Pictures, claiming it can prove it did not carry out the cyber-attack.
The foreign ministry in Pyongyang denied responsibility for the the highest-profile corporate hack in history, and said there would be grave consequences if Washington refused to collaborate on an investigation and continued to blame it.
The state KCNA news agency added that claims North Korea had conducted the attack on Sony in revenge for the controversial comedy The Interview, a multimillion-dollar comedy starring James Franco and Seth Rogen that depicts the assassination of Kim Jong-un, were “groundless slander”.
KCNA quoted the foreign ministry as saying: “As the United States is spreading groundless allegations and slandering us, we propose a joint investigation with it into this incident.
“Without resorting to such tortures as were used by the CIA, we have means to prove that this incident has nothing to do with us.”
North Korea’s comments came after Barack Obama said Sony had made a mistake in axing the comedy, which had been due for release on Christmas Day.
[Sony] [Cyberactivism] [Canard] [Evidence] [Media]
NK proposes joint probe into Sony hacking
An exterior view of the Sony Pictures Plaza building is seen in Culver City, Calif., on Friday. U.S. President Barack Obama declared that Sony "made a mistake" in shelving the satirical film, "The Interview," about a plot to assassinate North Korea's leader. He pledged the U.S. would respond "in a place and manner and time that we choose" to the hacking attack on Sony that led to the withdrawal. The FBI blamed the hack on the communist government. AP-Yonhap
North Korea on Saturday denied playing any role in the crippling cyber-attack on Sony Pictures and proposed a joint investigation with the United States into the allegation.
"We have a way to prove that we have nothing to do with the case," an identified spokesman for the North's Foreign Ministry said, dismissing the allegations against the North as an "unfounded rumor."
[Sony] [Cyberactivism] [Canard] [Evidence]
North Korea responds to hack allegations
North Korea has reacted angrily to U.S. assertions that it was behind a devastating cyber attack on Sony Pictures.
[UPDATE: The TV announcement is below the English statement]
The official state-run news agency carried a statement from the country’s Foreign Ministry on Saturday that promised “serious consequences” if a joint investigation with the DPRK doesn’t tale place.
It’s not the first time this year the country has demanded a joint investigation into international allegations against it. In May, the country wanted such after it was accused of responsibility for three drones found crashed in South Korea near the shared border with North Korea. The country also wanted a similar investigation into the sinking of the Cheonan frigate, a South Korean naval vessel that was torpedoed and sunk killing 46 people.
Here’s the full statement:
Obama, Kerry and other high-ranking authorities of the U.S. cried out for sort of counter-measure Friday, claiming that the results of the investigation into the cyber-attack on the Sony Pictures Entertainment proved that the DPRK was behind it.
They, without presenting any specific evidence, are asserting they can not open it to public as it is “sensitive information.”
Clear evidence is needed to charge a sovereign state with a crime……
We propose the U.S. side conducting a joint investigation into the case, given that Washington is slandering Pyongyang by spreading unfounded rumor.
We have a way to prove that we have nothing to do with the case without resorting to torture as what the CIA does.
The U.S. should bear in mind that it will face serious consequences in case it rejects our proposal for joint investigation and presses for what it called countermeasure while finding fault with the DPRK. -0-
[Sony] [Cyberactivism] [Canard] [Evidence]
North Korea: 1.2 Million Troops, Nukes and a 3,000-Strong Cyber-Elite
By Sam Kim Dec 22, 2014 5:05 AM GMT+1300 Photographer: AFP via Getty Images
This undated picture released from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency... Read More
North Korea’s alleged ability to hack into Sony Pictures Entertainment is extending Kim Jong Un’sreach far beyond the range of his missiles.
While North Korea has kept Western defense officials guessing for years about a nuclear program that it may or may not ever use, the regime’s ability to wage cyber war adds a new dimension to its standing abroad.
“There is this image that North Korea never carries through on its threats,” said Bruce Klingner, senior research fellow on Northeast Asia at the Heritage Foundation in Washington and former deputy division chief for Korea at the Central Intelligence Agency. “But it sometimes does carry through. You can’t always dismiss North Korea threats as simply being words.”
The Kim family is often mocked in European and U.S. media for its style of totalitarian rule and bursts of anti-Western invective. And yet, poking fun at the regime’s eccentricity ignores North Korea’s technological prowess in areas where it chooses to pour resources. South Korea has already accused the North of numerous attacks over the past five years, and now Pyongyang may be showing its global reach.
[Propaganda] [Sony] [Canard]
The Interview: Sony's retreat signals an unprecedented defeat on American turf
This is not the first time a Hollywood film has triggered an international incident, but the reaction has struck closer to home than ever before
Sony hack: the timeline so far
FBI to link North Korea to Sony hack
Sony’s cancellation of The Interview surprises North Korea-watchers
Review: The Interview
Peter Bradshaw
Thursday 18 December 2014 13.27 GMT
Strange memories will be triggered by North Korea’s stunningly effective fatwah against the Hollywood movie The Interview, in which James Franco and Seth Rogen play two dopey guys dragooned by the CIA into an assassination attempt on Kim Jong-un.
Almost ten years ago, we saw a crew of puppets setting out to save the world in the Thunderbirds-style comedy Team America: World Police. Their enemy? Well, strict topicality should probably have meant al-Quaida and Osama Bin Laden. But something that looked like a War on Terror spoof was probably too risky and the film went after someone generally if tacitly agreed to be a safer target: North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, that melancholy little figure singing about being “so ronery”. Attacking jihadis would be unfunnily painful, poking the Russians was a bit passé and taking a potshot at China — an important movie market, and, as it happens, North Korea’s economic and political sponsor — would also be out of the question. So North Korea it was.
And in 2014, producers of The Interview probably thought that they were on safe ground too. North Korea is, you might say, a far-off country about which we know little, but is good for some chuckles. Perhaps they thought it was broadly comparable to Sacha Baron Cohen taking the mickey out of Kazakhstan with his Borat movie — a film which elicited only the kind of noisy outrage in that country which was good for box-office. So the North Koreans were good for some edgy knockabout satire with no blowback.
[Sony] [Propaganda] [Canard] [Mockery]
U.S. to Normalize Relations with Cuba -- What next?
With the surprise announcement that the U.S. will normalize relations with Cuba, the list of nations without diplomatic relations with the U.S. got shorter: Bhutan, Iran and North Korea. Bhutan does not have many foreign relations and Iran is at odds with Washington after the Iranian Revolution. That leaves North Korea as the sole nation not recognized by Washington due to the Cold War vestige.
U.S. policymakers seem to have come to conclusion that 53 years of embargo on Cuba is anachronistic and did not work. The world will now see how Washington will approach relations with Pyongyang, with ongoing 66 years of non-recognition -- though tainted by the recent controversy over the film "The Interview."
[Sony] [Canard] [Pretext] [US NK policy]
Meet the Man Who Plans to Smuggle The Interview Into North Korea
By Janet Paskin December 19, 2014
Meet the Man Who Plans to Smuggle The Interview Into North Korea
via Bloomberg
Keeping The Interview out of North Korea may turn out to be harder than keeping it out of American theaters. North Korea’s enemy No. 1, defector and activist Park Sang Hak, has been sending Western information—and entertainment—into Pyongyang via 33-foot hydrogen balloons, and he and his financial supporters plan to add The Interview to his subversive care packages as soon as it’s available on DVD, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Story: Movie? What Movie? North Koreans Unaware of Sony's Humiliation
Sending Western entertainment into North Korea isn’t trivial. The government tightly controls the flow of news and information—this past week, for example, while the rest of the world has been focused on the Sony (SNE) hacks and on the success of the threat against the production company, North Korea’s state-controlled media has focused entirely on the three-year anniversary of the death of Kim Jong Il. According to Thor Halvorssen, founder of the Human Rights Foundation, North Koreans will risk their lives to watch Hollywood films.
“Viewing [Western movies and TV shows] is a subversive act that could get you executed, and North Koreans know this, given the public nature of the punishments meted out to those who dare watch entertainment from abroad,” Halvorssen told the Reporter. “Despite all of that there is a huge thirst for knowledge and information from the outside world. … The Interview is tremendously threatening to the Kims. They cannot abide by anything that portrays them as anything other than a god. This movie destroys the narrative.”
The next balloon drop to North Korea is planned for January, which is probably too soon to include The Interview. Sony has said it has no plans to release the movie in any medium.
[Sony] [Propaganda]
Enough with the Sony hack. Can we all calm down about cyberwar with North Korea already?
Yes, the Interview was just a Seth Rogen stoner movie – and, no, privacy, free speech and World War III are not at stake
•Obama on Sony pulling The Interview: ‘They made a mistake’
Trevor Timm
theguardian.com, Friday 19 December 2014 22.11 GMT
the interview movie poster
"We will respond proportionally," Obama said on Friday. Why should the US be responding offensively at all? Photograph: Sony Pictures
The sanest thing anyone said in Washington this week was a reminder, on the Friday before Christmas, when Barack Obama took a break from oscillating between reassuring rationality and understated fear to make an accidental joke:
It says something about North Korea that it decided to mount an all-out attack about a satirical movie … starring Seth Rogen.
It also says something about the over-the-top rhetoric of United States cybersecurity paranoia that it took the President of the United States to remind us to take a deep breath and exhale, even if Sony abruptly scrapped its poorly reviewed Hollywood blockbuster after nebulous threats from alleged North Korean hackers.
Unfortunately, acting rational seems out of the question at this point. In between making a lot of sense about Sony’s cowardly “mistake” to pull a film based on a childish, unsubstantiated threat, Obama indicated the US planned to respond in some as-yet-unknown way, which sounds a lot like a cyberattack of our own.
“We will respond, we will respond proportionally, and in a place and time that we choose,” Obama said at his year-end news conference. Why should we be responding offensively at all? As the Wall Street Journal’s Danny Yadron reported, a movie studio doesn’t reach the US government’s definition of “critical infrastructure” that would allow its military to respond under existing rules, but that didn’t stop the White House from calling the Sony hack a “national security issue” just a day later.
Let’s put aside for a moment that many security experts haven’t exactly been rushing to agree with the FBI’s cut-and-dry conclusion that “the North Korean government is responsible” for the hack. Wired’s Kim Zetter wrote a detailed analysis about why the evidence accusing North Korea is really flimsy, while other security professionals have weighed in with similar research.
[Sony] [Cyberactivism] [Canard]
U.S. Said to Find North Korea Ordered Cyberattack on Sony
By David E. Sanger and Nicole Perlroth
Dec. 17, 2014
WASHINGTON — American officials have concluded that North Korea was “centrally involved” in the hacking of Sony Pictures computers, even as the studio canceled the release of a far-fetched comedy about the assassination of the North’s leader that is believed to have led to the cyberattack.
Senior administration officials, who would not speak on the record about the intelligence findings, said the White House was debating whether to publicly accuse North Korea of what amounts to a cyberterrorism attack. Sony capitulated after the hackers threatened additional attacks, perhaps on theaters themselves, if the movie, “The Interview,” was released.
[Cyberactivism] [Sony] [Canard]
Terror Threats Over ‘The Interview’ Are Quandary for Sony
By Michael Cieply and Brooks Barnes
DEC. 16, 2014
Photo
The threat to attack movie theaters that show Sony’s “The Interview,” turned a continuing attack on Sony by hackers from a matter of theft to one of terrorism. Credit Kevork Djansezian/Reuters
LOS ANGELES — Sony Pictures Entertainment, the F.B.I., theater owners and competing film studios scrambled on Tuesday to deal with a threat of terrorism against movie theaters that show Sony’s “The Interview,” a raunchy comedy about the assassination of the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un.
The threat was made in rambling emails sent to various news outlets Tuesday morning. A version posted by The Hollywood Reporter said, in part: “Remember the 11th of September 2001. We recommend you to keep yourself distant from the places at that time. (If your house is nearby, you’d better leave.)”
The email specifically aimed its threat at “the very times and places” at which “The Interview” is to be first shown. The film is set for release on Christmas Day.
On Tuesday night, Landmark’s Sunshine Cinema said it had canceled the film’s New York premiere scheduled for this week; its Los Angeles premiere was held Dec. 11 without incident.
[Cyberactivism] [Sony]
Sony Hack Attacks Presage New Warfare: The Weaponization of Code
Posted: 12/16/2014 1:23 pm EST Updated: 12/16/2014 2:59 pm EST
North Korea is a miserable, backward, hellhole of a place. It has a per capita GDP of less than $2,000 -- trailing Yemen, Tajikistan and Chad -- and about one-sixteenth the size of the GDP of South Korea. The Hermit Kingdom derives its power through the twin pillars of state repression and an all-encompassing propaganda apparatus.
This poor, delusional country managed to wallop Sony after it objected to the content of some movie which I can't remember the name of at the present moment but which looks boring and stupid. Most of the press reporting is about the compromise of celebrity emails and some Hollywood chitter-chatter. Nobody will remember or care about these emails or chitter-chatter in a week.
What is important is that these hacks presage what is going to happen for years to come and at far greater cost than what is being imposed on Sony. We have had a good 20-year run since the advent of the commercial Internet, during which the worst that comes from our connectivity is (for the most part) spam, occasional identity theft and lots of time wasted on click-bait.
The weaponization of code is the most significant development in warfare since the weaponization of fissile material.
[Cyberactivism] [Sony] [Canard] [Bizarre] [Asymmetry]
Did the Senkakus Sink Sony?
Wednesday, December 17, 2014
I came over this measured exercise in opinion journalism penned by “Alec Ross, Senior Fellow at Columbia University's School of International & Public Affairs” over at Huffington Post:
North Korea is a miserable, backward, hellhole of a place. It has a per capita GDP of less than $2,000 -- trailing Yemen, Tajikistan and Chad -- and about one-sixteenth the size of the GDP of South Korea. The Hermit Kingdom derives its power through the twin pillars of state repression and an all-encompassing propaganda apparatus.
This poor, delusional country managed to wallop Sony after it objected to the content of some movie which I can't remember the name of at the present moment but which looks boring and stupid. ..
Kinda funny, in a way, since the FBI has stated there isn’t sufficient evidence to attribute the attack to North Korea at the present time, and in fact some people are pointing fingers at the People’s Republic of China instead. More about China later.
[Cyberactivism] [Sony]
How the 'Internet with Chinese Characteristics' Is Rupturing the Web
Posted: 12/15/2014 1:52 pm EST Updated: 12/15/2014 1:59 pm EST
China is openly undermining the United States' vision of a free and open Internet. Motivated by maintaining the fragile balance between information control, social and political stability, and continued modernization and economic growth for an online population of over 600 million, the Chinese government is attempting to alter how nations understand their role in Internet governance through a concept called "Internet sovereignty."
Internet sovereignty refers to the idea that a country has the right to control Internet activity within its own borders, and it is what China refers to as a natural extension of a nation-state's authority to handle its own domestic and foreign affairs. For the United States and other Western nations, however, Internet governance is delegated to an inclusive and distributed set of stakeholders including government, civil society, the private sector, academia, and national and international organizations (also known as the multi-stakeholder model of Internet governance).
Lu Wei, the head of the State Internet Information Office and the director of a powerful cybersecurity strategy group comprised of China's top leaders, is the administrative ringleader of the Chinese Internet. With a long background working in China's propaganda apparatus, Lu has been behind China's recent campaigns promoting its conception of Internet sovereignty abroad, including a trip to Washington D.C. and Silicon Valley in the first week of December
[Internet] [Sovereignty]
The Evidence That North Korea Hacked Sony Is Flimsy
By Kim Zetter
12.17.14 |
Today Sony canceled the premiere of “The Interview” and its entire Christmas-Day release of the movie because of fears that terrorists might attack theaters showing the film.
The actions show just how much power the attackers behind the Sony hack have amassed in a short time. But who exactly are they?
1 The New York Times reported this evening that North Korea is “centrally involved” in the hack, citing unnamed U.S. intelligence officials. It’s unclear from the Times report what “centrally involved” means and whether the intelligence officials are saying the hackers were state-sponsored or actually agents of the state. The Times also notes that “It is not clear how the United States came to its determination that the North Korean regime played a central role in the Sony attacks.” The public evidence pointing at the Hermit Kingdom is flimsy.
Other theories of attribution focus on hacktivists—motivated by ideology, politics or something else—or disgruntled insiders who stole the data on their own or assisted outsiders in gaining access to it. Recently, the finger has pointed at China.
In the service of unraveling the attribution mess, we examined the known evidence for and against North Korea.
[Cyberactivism] [Sony] [Canard]
“Not Proven”
By James A. Lewis
12 December 2014
Courts and juries in Scotland can find a person guilty or innocent, but they have a third verdict, “Not Proven” that falls in between. “Not proven” means, colloquially, we believe they did it but there isn’t enough evidence to conclusively find the suspect guilty or to find them to be innocent. Not proven is a good description of the role of North Korea in the Sony hack. Let’s review a sequence of events:
[Cyberactivism] [Sony] [Canard]
Sony’s hacked e-mails expose spats, director calling Angelina Jolie a ‘brat’
By Cecilia Kang, Craig Timberg and Ellen Nakashima December 11 at 8:51 AM ?
The hack of Sony Pictures Entertainment has escalated into a humiliating public crisis for the company as deeply held secrets — including business practices, pay disparities and ugly personal feuds — continue spilling onto the Internet in ways that experts say could damage the Hollywood studio for years to come.
The architects of the attack have shown little interest in the traditional targets of cyber-intrusions, such as credit cards, choosing instead to use information as a weapon of vengeance for supposed misdeeds by the company. The massive troves of stolen information have found a voracious audience online, where Sony long has been a favorite target because of its aggressive anti-piracy efforts.
The consequences for Sony have been swift and devastating since the attack became public last month, exposing the company to potential lawsuits and backlash from key Hollywood players.
[Cyberactivism] [Sony] [Canard]
Sony executive Amy Pascal apologizes for embarrassing e-mails that have leaked
The massive hacking of Sony Pictures ranges from executives' e-mails disparaging actors to leaked personal information. The Post's Cecilia Kang explains what has been revealed so far, and why it could get much worse for the production company. (Jayne W. Orenstein/The Washington Post)
By Cecilia Kang December 11 at 5:49 PM ?
You’ve really made it in Hollywood if a caricature drawing of you lands on the wall of the iconic restaurant in town, The Palm. And when The Palm opened its new location in Beverly Hills last month, Sony Pictures Entertainment co-chairman Amy Pascal was picked for a drawing showing her striking a “Charlie’s Angel” guns-ready pose.
Pascal was an obvious choice. She is among a handful of power players in a male-dominated industry who decide which big films get released to the world. Her studio’s movies — including
“Spider-Man” and “Casino Royale” — have won numerous awards and brought in billions of dollars in box office sales over the years.
But all that success was overshadowed this week with the devastating leaks of private e-mails revealing often unsavory — and deeply offensive — thoughts never intended for public viewing.
[Cyberactivism] [Sony] [Canard]
A Sony exec cracks jokes about Obama’s race, and eight more bruising revelations from the Sony leak
By Hayley Tsukayama December 11 at 12:16 PM ?
The massive hacking of Sony Pictures ranges from executives' e-mails disparaging actors to leaked personal information. The Post's Cecilia Kang explains what has been revealed so far, and why it could get much worse for the production company. (Jayne W. Orenstein/The Washington Post)
It's becoming increasingly difficult to look away from all the dirt spilling from private e-mails stolen from Sony Pictures Entertainment employees. The documents were taken as part of a massive cyberattack that has revealed what appear to be personal correspondence and other internal documents that detail the inner workings of the major studio.
What's so fascinating about these stolen documents? Everyone knows Hollywood has a dark side, that people are jerks, and that a lot of smiles and hugs are fake. But it's rare for most people to see the glitter peeled away like this. One thing is for sure: If the aim of the hack was to damage Sony Pictures' reputation, then mission accomplished.
Here are some of the craziest things we've seen come out of the attack:
[Cyberactivism] [Sony] [Canard]
Hackers demand Sony scrap release of 'The Interview'
/ AP-Yonhap
A group claiming to have hacked Sony Pictures demanded Monday that the company cancel the upcoming release of the movie, "The Interview."
Calling itself the Guardians of Peace (GOP), the group posted a statement on the website GitHub, saying it was working to send a "message to Sony."
The film, a comedy that portrays a plot to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, has been harshly criticized by Pyongyang. The North has denied speculation that it was behind the hack, but called the act a "righteous deed."
"Stop immediately showing the movie of terrorism which can break the regional peace and cause the war," the statement said. "The destiny of Sony is totally up to the wise reaction and measure of Sony."
A collection of links to download the private data of two Sony executives was included in the post.
[Sony] [Cyberactivism]
Writer Recalls Ignorance of N.Korean Elite Students
Suki Kim Suki Kim
Korean-American novelist Suki Kim on Sunday described North Korea as "the most horrific place in the world" after teaching English at Pyongyang University of Science and Technology in 2011.
Kim (43) told CNN North Korean students there "were all completely sons of elite... They, first of all, didn't know anything about the rest of the world. If any of them did, they were fearful to admit that… Some of the students really thought people spoke Korean in the rest of the world."
Recounting her experience, she has recently published a book, "Without You, There Is No Us," based on a song with the same title hailing former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.
"Absolute belief in the great leader, where, you know, this generation -- three generations of these men who, these hugely narcissistic men basically wiped everything out of their culture except themselves."
"They didn't know the existence of the Internet in 2011. And this was a Pyongyang University of Science and Technology. Their major was computer, a lot of them... The utter, utter lack of information was astounding," she added. "The phone calls are tapped or, you know, it's a small country. You can't travel within the country without a permission."
"I don't know how they're going to rise up. They can't even get to the next town without a permission. They don't have the Internet. They have no way of going there, transportation system. There's just nothing that connects people."
[PUST] [Diaspora]
Did North Korea hack Sony? Probably Not
It’s a compelling story.
A month away from the release of Seth Rogen’s new movie “The Interview,” in which he plays a celebrity reporter sent to North Korea to interview Kim Jong Un and kill him, North Korea is so annoyed at the film that it has hacked into Sony Pictures and threatened to release corporate secrets.
It’s also most likely not true.
The story appears to have begun with Re/code, a technology news website, which reported on Friday “Sony Pictures Investigates North Korea Link In Hack Attack.”
“Sony Pictures Entertainment is exploring the possibility that hackers working on behalf of North Korea, perhaps operating out of China, may be behind a devastating attack that brought the studio’s network to a screeching halt earlier this week, sources familiar with the matter tell Re/code,” the site reported.
It goes on to say that security experts from outside the company are exploring the theory that the attack, which brought Sony’s internal network to a halt, is linked to the movie that is due in U.S. movie theaters on December 25.
The source of the theory is unclear.
Over the weekend, the possible link with North Korean was reported by numerous news organizations including Reuters, The Guardian, NBC News, ABC News, CBS News, which asked “Is North Korea targeting Sony in cyberwar?” and Forbes, which reported “North Korea May Have Leaked Sony Movies Online.”
[Cyberactivism] [Sony] [Canard]
Spokesman of Policy Department of NDC Blasts S. Korean Authorities' False Rumor about DPRK
Pyongyang, December 7 (KCNA) -- The spokesman for the Policy Department of the National Defence Commission (NDC) of the DPRK Sunday gave the following answer to the question put by KCNA as regards the fact that the south Korean puppet authorities spread a wild rumor while forcibly linking the recent extra-large hacking in the U.S. with the DPRK:
The SONY Pictures, a film producer in the U.S., has reportedly been attacked by hackers.
The hacking is so fatal that all the systems of the company have been paralyzed, causing the overall suspension of the work and supposedly a huge ensuing loss.
Much upset by this, the U.S. mobilized many investigation bodies including FBI, CIA and the Department of Homeland Security for urgent investigation and recovery of the system.
We do not know where in America the SONY Pictures is situated and for what wrongdoings it became the target of the attack nor we feel the need to know about it.
[Sony] [Cyberactivism] [Hacking] [Canard]
Sony Pictures' nightmare week: what now?
Dave Lee
By Dave Lee
Technology reporter, BBC News
As the week draws to a close, many Sony Pictures employees will be left thinking: Thank heavens for James Bond.
For without the announcement of the new 007 film, this week would have been continuous misery for a company that has suffered one of the most damaging, not to mention embarrassing, security breaches in history.
To recap: We heard last month that Sony had been the victim of a cyberattack. Some employees were reportedly told to turn off their machines.
Some received a message from a group calling itself the Guardians of Peace (GOP).
"Hacked by #GOP" it read, showing even cyberattackers have a social media strategy.
[Cyberactivism] [Canard]
Suspicions of N.K. involvement in cyber attack on Sony darken
Some of the malware that knocked down the computer network of Sony Pictures Entertainment contained Korean-language code in a sign that North Korea played a role in the attack, a news report said Tuesday.
North Korea has been suspected of involvement since last Monday's cyber-attack on Sony because the communist nation has expressed strong anger at a comedy film, "The Interview," about a plot to assassinate leader Kim Jong-un.
Sony is scheduled to release the film this month.
The FBI has launched an investigation into the case.
On Tuesday, the Bloomberg news agency reported that some of the malware used in the attack contained Korean language code, and other aspects of the breach bear important similarities to attacks that wiped out the computers of South Korean banks and broadcasters in March 2013.
The report cited two people familiar with the investigation.
Since the attack, at least five new Sony movies have been leaked online. But "The Interview" was not among them, another indication pointing to Pyongyang's possible involvement because the North would not want its people to see the film.
When the attack happened, it left Sony employees locked out of their computers. Before the screens went dark, they displayed the phrase "Hacked By #GOP", which reportedly stands for "Guardians of Peace," as well as a message that threatened to release sensitive data stolen from Sony servers if certain demands were not met, according to media reports.
The attackers also reportedly posted messages on several Sony Twitter accounts, personally attacking Sony Pictures CEO Michael Lynton.
But a North Korea expert in Washington said he is skeptical about North Korea's involvement.
Alexandre Mansourov, an adjunct professor at the U.S.-Korea Institute at the Johns Hopkins University School for Advanced International Studies, said that the North Koreans have never made such undisclosed demands or bullied corporate managers of a target organization with Twitter posts as in Sony's case.
"I have no definitive proof that they've not done it. I'm just saying that I've seen a few tactics which were used in this particular incident, which are not characteristic of the previous North Korean attacks," he said at an event discussing the North's cyber-capabilities."I think we should leave it to digital forensics to determine whether it's North Koreans or somebody else." (Yonhap)
[Cyberactivism] [Canard]
North Korea’s cyberwar on James Franco and Seth Rogen
By Anna Fifield December 1 at 9:02 AM ?
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un applauds as he provides field guidance to the flight drill of female pilots of pursuit planes of the KPA Air and Anti-Air Force in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency in Pyongyang. (KCNA/Reuters)
SEOUL – Say you’re the dictator of the most closed state on earth, used to being revered as a god, and a bunch of Americans make a movie in which they attempt to assassinate you.
How do you get revenge? Well, the usual old fireworks – missiles and maybe a nuke test – won’t be much noticed by those Hollywood types. You’ve got to hit them where it hurts.
Well, North Korea – apparently – made Sony Pictures double over as it prepares to release "The Interview," the comedy in which James Franco and Seth Rogen play two journalists who land a rare interview with Kim Jong Un and are recruited by the CIA to take him out. The movie is due to be released in the U.S. on Dec. 25.
When news of the film emerged in June, North Korea vowed "merciless counter-measures" if it were released. It appears to have made good on that promise with a devastating cyber attack on Sony Pictures Entertainment, knocking out the studio's computer network on Nov. 24.
Sony Pictures Entertainment, which recently suffered a cyber attack on its computer network, is investigating if hackers working on behalf of North Korea might be responsible. (Reuters)
Attackers operating under the name “Guardians of Peace” left a picture of a red skull and the phrase "Hacked By #GOP" on the computers screens of Sony employees on the Monday before Thanksgiving.
The message threatened to release sensitive data supposedly stolen from Sony servers if certain demands were not met, the technology Web site Re/code reported.
Sony was exploring the possibility that hackers working on behalf of North Korea, perhaps operating out of China, might be behind the attack, Re/code reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.
[Media] [Cyberactivism]
Whodunnit? Why North Korea Is Suspected in the Sony Hack
By Bruce Einhorn December 02, 2014
Sony (SNE) was warned. After learning of the company’s plans to release a James Franco-Seth Rogen comedy about a plot to assassinate Kim Jong Un, North Korea declared war in June. At the time, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said all North Koreans were determined “to mercilessly destroy anyone who dares hurt or attack the supreme leadership of the country, even a bit.”
Thanks to threats like that, North Korea is a prime suspect in the hacking attack that crippled Sony Pictures last week. The attackers made off with several new Sony movies, including Brad Pitt’s Fury and the remake of Annie, and they apparently made them available online. One movie that the hackers haven’t leaked is The Interview, the Franco and Rogen film that got the North Koreans so outraged with Sony in the first place.
An investigation is underway, with the FBI taking part, and it’s too early to say whether Kim’s regime had any role in the hack. But “the facts and the evidence really point to the East on this one,” Joe Loomis, CyberSponse chief executive officer and founder, told Bloomberg Television. The incident is an example of a “new type of warfare coming along now,” he added, “where you have a foreign country attacking a corporation.”
[Cyberactivism]
Sony Pictures Hacked Ahead of Kim Jong-un Film Launch
A cyber attack on Nov. 24 paralyzed the computer system of Sony Pictures, the studio behind a Hollywood comedy about the attempted assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Homeland Security are looking into the possibility that North Korean hackers were behind the attack, which it took place some three weeks ahead of the release of "The Interview," U.S. website Re/code reported Saturday.
After the trailer was released in June, the North Korean Foreign Ministry denounced the comedy as an "outright act of terrorism and an act of war."
"If the U.S. administration connives at and patronizes the screening of the film, it invites strong and merciless countermeasures," it said.
The attackers left behind an image of a red skeleton and signed themselves "GOP," apparently short for Guardians of Peace. They threatened to release classified Sony data, the New York Times reported on Nov. 25.
[Cyberactivism] [Canard]
South Koreans defend their rights in cyberspace
20 November 2014
Author: Eun Jeong Soh, ANU
Over 3 million South Koreans have downloaded a Germany-based smartphone messenger app, Telegram, while 400,000 users of Kakao Talk — the nation’s most widely used messenger app — terminated their account, in protest against government attempts to crackdown on dissenters.
The mass boycott of Kakao Talk occurred in response to the public prosecutor’s initiative to impose surveillance on personal messaging services. Kakao Talk is an integral part of everyday life of Koreans; of the country’s population of 50 million, 35 million use the smartphone application. By terminating their user accounts, these ‘cyber exiles’ asserted their right to privacy and freedom of expression and attracted domestic and international attention regarding the state’s intrusion and control of cyberspace. In response, Daum-Kakao hurriedly announced that the company would not in the future cooperate with the public prosecutor’s warrants for wiretaps or access to stored messages, and would adopt appropriate technology to prevent government screening.
[Surveillance]
Malware spied on companies and governments in 10 countries since 2008
‘Nation state’ most likely behind development of stealth malware Regin, say antivirus experts
Reuters
Monday 24 November 2014 00.05 GMT
An advanced, malicious software application has been uncovered that has spied on private companies, governments, research institutes and individuals in 10 countries since 2008, antivirus software maker Symantec Corp said in a report on Sunday.
The California-based maker of Norton antivirus products said its research showed that a “nation state” was likely the developer of the malware, Regin, but Symantec did not identify any countries or victims. Symantec said Regin’s design “makes it highly suited for persistent, long-term surveillance operations against targets”. The program was apparently withdrawn in 2011, but resurfaced in 2013.
The malware uses several stealth features and “even when its presence is detected, it is very difficult to ascertain what it is doing”, according to Symantec. “Many components of Regin remain undiscovered, and additional functionality and versions may exist.”
[Cyberwar] [Malware] [Russia confrontation]
Everything Google knows about you (and how it knows it)
By Caitlin Dewey November 19 at 7:07 AM ?
According to Google, I am a woman between the ages of 25 and 34 who speaks English as her primary language and has accumulated an unwieldy 74,486 e-mails in her life. I like cooking, dictionaries and Washington, D.C. I own a Mac computer that I last accessed at 10:04 p.m. last night, at which time I had 46 open Chrome tabs. And of the thousands and thousands of YouTube videos I have watched in my lifetime, a truly embarrassing number of them concern (a) funny pets or (b) Taylor Swift.
I didn’t tell Google any of these things intentionally, of course — I didn’t fill out a profile or enter a form. But even as you search Google, it turns out, Google is also searching you.
This isn’t exactly new news. Google has, since 2009, published a transparency tool called Dashboard, which lets users see exactly what kind of data the Internet giant has on them and from which services. But the issue of data collection has provoked renewed anxiety of late, perhaps spurred by recent investigations into personal data and search engines in Europe and Asia — as well as the high-profile hacking of celebrities’ personal data and the shadow of last year’s National Security Agency revelations.
[Surveillance]
N.Korea's Newly Rich Favor Foreign Smartphones
High-end Western smartphones are all the rage among women traders in North Korea's thriving open-air markets, a source said Friday.
Seventy percent of all cell phones in North Korea are concentrated in Pyongyang, the source said, and North Koreans now prefer imported gadgets to locally manufactured ones. iPhones and Samsung smartphones have become symbols of wealth, with two out of 10 female traders now flaunting imported phones, according to the source.
North Korea started manufacturing its own smartphones last year under the brand names "Arirang" and "Pyongyang Touch."
But word spread quickly among North Korea's elite who had gotten their hands on iPhones or South Korean smartphones that the imports are far better.
North Korea in principle bans imports, and people are prohibited from accessing foreign websites.
Most foreign smartphones are therefore smuggled through China and sold on the black market. iPhones are especially popular, apparently because North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is widely known to be an Apple fanatic.
In these screen grabs from North Korean Central TV, clockwise from top, women take photos with their smartphones at a firework display in Pyongyang; students use smartphones to take photos in the demilitarized zone; and leader Kim Jong-un is seen with an Apple iMac. In these screen grabs from North Korean Central TV, clockwise from top, women take photos with their smartphones at a firework display in Pyongyang; students use smartphones to take photos in the demilitarized zone; and leader Kim Jong-un is seen with an Apple iMac.
The source said Kim not only imports the latest iPhones but also hands them out to high-ranking officials, and as a result North Koreans who can afford ask diplomats posted overseas to send them one.
When Apple released the iPad 2 last year, Kim allegedly had it imported immediately via China. The source said, iPhones and Galaxy S smartphones cannot be used straight out of the box in North Korea but have to be modified, and the Apple and Samsung logos are removed.
A 2G mobile phone costs between 110 to 240 euros in North Korea, compared to the Arirang's hefty 370 euros. The Pyongyang Touch costs 650 euros, while iPhones and Galaxy smartphones cost 1,000 to 1,500 euros.
[Mobiles]
N. Korean media denies hacking South Korean smartphones
Uriminzokkiri says S. Korean spy agency continues using North as scapegoat
November 3rd, 2014
Doyun Kim
North Korea’s state-run Uriminzokkiri news site denied responsibility for hacking South Korean smartphones, criticizing the South’s accusations as the latest in a series of “schemes” to slander the North.
South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) reported to the parliamentary intelligence committee last Wednesday that more than 20,000 phones were infected with malware downloaded from a disguised game application from May to September.
Infected devices are susceptible to wiretapping and clandestine videotaping, according to the South Korean media.
Uriminzokkiri said that these wrongful accusations follow the line of the “Don’t ask, it’s the North’s fault” rhetoric that the South Korean government routinely adopts whenever there is some kind of political unrest and need for a scapegoat.
“It is not by chance that some local and overseas media believe (Seoul) fabricated the hacking incident to justify the South’s puppet government’s crime of destroying resolutions in relations and to instill feelings of hostility towards the North,” the article said.
It claimed that the hacking incident was devised to distract from rising concerns over leaflets scattering in particular, and also hinted that by blaming Pyongyang, South Korea may be covering its own wiretapping and hacking crimes.
[Hacking] [Blame]
Very cheap mobile phone rates seen in N. Korea – RFA
Rates as low as 15 cents may be designed to help businesses thrive
November 5th, 2014
Doyun Kim
The standard monthly rate for North Korean cellphone users is strikingly low – 1,000 North Korean won or approximately $0.15 cents for 200 minutes of talk, according to a Radio Free Asia (RFA) report.
Orascom, the Egyptian telecom company that operates Koryo Link alongside North Korea’s Korea Post and Telecommunications Corporation, reported 2.4 million
[Mobile]
Brazil-to-Portugal Cable Shapes Up as Anti-NSA Case Study
By Anna Edgerton and Jordan Robertson Oct 30, 2014 10:30 PM GMT+1300
Brazil is planning a $185 million project to lay fiber-optic cable across the Atlantic Ocean, which could entail buying gear from multiple vendors. What it won’t need: U.S.-made technology.
The cable is being overseen by state-owned telecommunications company Telecomunicacoes Brasileiras SA (TELB4), known as Telebras. Even though Telebras’s suppliers include U.S. companies such as Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO), Telebras President Francisco Ziober Filho said in an interview that the cable project can be built without any U.S. companies.
The potential to exclude U.S. vendors illustrates the fallout that is starting to unfold from revelations last year that the U.S. National Security Agency spied on international leaders like Brazil’s Dilma Rousseff and Germany’s Angela Merkel to gather intelligence on terror suspects worldwide.
“The issue of data integrity and vulnerability is always a concern for any telecom company,” Ziober said. The NSA leaks last year from contractor Edward Snowden prompted Telebras to step up audits of all foreign-made equipment to check for security vulnerabilities and accelerated the country’s move toward technological self-reliance, he said.
Nigel Glennie, a spokesman for San Jose, California-based Cisco, declined to comment. Last November, Cisco Chief Executive Officer John Chambers said uncertainties related to NSA spying were causing international customers to “hesitate” in buying U.S. technologies.
[NSA] [Blowback]
N.Korea Hacks 20,000 S.Korean Smartphones
Some 20,000 smartphones in South Korea are infected with malicious apps as a result of a recent North Korean hacking campaign.
National Intelligence Service data revealed on Tuesday say the apps were posted by North Korean hackers on South Korean websites from May 19 to Sept. 16 this year.
The NIS claims it has taken steps to delete the apps, update vaccines and block the sources of hacking attacks. It did not reveal who the targets of the attacks were.
Once infected with the malicious apps, smartphones are reportedly vulnerable to eavesdropping and clandestine videotaping. There have been a lot of worries about the possibility of the North hacking into smartphones, but this is the first time that specific cases have been revealed.
The NIS also said a total of 75,473 cyber attacks were launched on government and public agencies from 2010 to September this year.
The NIS said the sources of cyber attacks are difficult to ferret out as hackers use computer networks in several countries to hide their identity. But it believes a considerable number of them were launched by the North.
"Smartphones are vulnerable to the point that a simple malicious app makes it possible to conduct eavesdropping or clandestine videotaping," said Shin In-kyun, the head of the Korea Defense Network. "There are lots of ways the North can hack into smartphones here."
[Hacking] [Canard]
Core Secrets: NSA Saboteurs in China and Germany
By Peter Maass and Laura Poitras ?@maassp Saturday at 1:10 AM
The National Security Agency has had agents in China, Germany, and South Korea working on programs that use “physical subversion” to infiltrate and compromise networks and devices, according to documents obtained by The Intercept.
The documents, leaked by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, also indicate that the agency has used “under cover” operatives to gain access to sensitive data and systems in the global communications industry, and that these secret agents may have even dealt with American firms. The documents describe a range of clandestine field activities that are among the agency’s “core secrets” when it comes to computer network attacks, details of which are apparently shared with only a small number of officials outside the NSA.
[NSA] [Cyberwar]
The NSA and Me
By James Bamford Today at 6:01 PM
The tone of the answering machine message was routine, like a reminder for a dental appointment. But there was also an undercurrent of urgency. “Please call me back,” the voice said. “It’s important.”
What worried me was who was calling: a senior attorney with the Justice Department’s secretive Office of Intelligence Policy and Review. By the time I hung up the payphone at a little coffee shop in Cambridge, Mass., and wandered back to my table, strewn with yellow legal pads and dog-eared documents, I had guessed what he was after: my copy of the Justice Department’s top-secret criminal file on the National Security Agency. Only two copies of the original were ever made. Now I had to find a way to get it out of the country—fast.
[NSA]
German lawmakers remain concerned about U.S. spying
By Franco Ordoñez
McClatchy Washington Bureau September 19, 2014
WASHINGTON — German lawmakers who took part in an international intelligence forum this week left the country disappointed that members of the U.S. Congress were not more receptive to their concerns about U.S. spying on European allies.
The German lawmakers were among more than 100 members of parliaments and ambassadors from 24 nations who took part in a closed-door three-day intelligence security forum held at the Library of Congress. The goal was to address allies concerns about U.S. surveillance and discuss shared objectives in light of growing threat from groups such as the Islamic State, also known as ISIS.
A range of opinions were expressed and most appeared to agree the dialog was a positive step. The British lawmakers were most appreciative of the U.S. role in aiding Europe, according to attendees. The Germans and Austrians pressed the hardest on U.S. spying. Delegates from Georgia, Latvia, Moldova were concerned about dangers surrounding the Ukraine and Russia.
[NSA] [Surveillance] [Espionage]
North Korea slaps Wi-Fi ban on embassies and NGOs
North Korea has banned all satellite Internet connections and Wi-Fi networks used by foreign embassies and international organizations operating in the isolated state, reports said this week.
The state authorities cited national security as the reason for the restrictions, adding that embassies and NGOs must seek a license to use wireless Internet.
"Signals of regional wireless networks, installed and being used without license, produce some effect upon our surroundings...Therefore, it is kindly notified that the regional wireless network is abolished here," said a notification from the State Radio Regulatory Department, obtained by NK News.
Foreigners in the North were ordered to end their Wi-Fi installations before Thursday. Violators may be fined up to $11,326 (11.7 million won).
North Korea’s Cyber Capabilities: Deterrence and Stability in a Changing Strategic Environment
By Egle Murauskaite
12 September 2014
CybersecurityIn addition to long-standing international concerns about North Korea’s pursuit of nuclear weapons and technology, the US and its regional allies—the Republic of Korea (ROK) and Japan—are increasingly worried about the DPRK’s growing cyber offensive capabilities. A recent HP study detailing North Korea’s electronic warfare capabilities and uses is illustrative of persistent attempts to understand the DPRK’s strategic calculus as a whole or the pecking order of the use of different military instruments—a task increasingly difficult in light of the changing strategic environment. Subsequently, it is becoming more difficult to anticipate North Korea’s responses to certain actions by the West, or to a crisis. While information about the DPRK’s cyber capabilities remains scarce and is based on hard to corroborate defector accounts, it is worth adopting a macro-perspective to analyze the influence of offensive cyber capabilities on North Korea’s broader strategy.
[Cyberwar]
U.S. threatened massive fine to force Yahoo to release data
The U.S. government threatened to fine Yahoo $250,000 a day in 2008 if it failed to comply with a broad demand for user data that the company believed was unconstitutional, according to court documents unsealed Thursday. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
By Craig Timberg September 11 at 9:16 PM ?
The U.S. government threatened to fine Yahoo $250,000 a day in 2008 if it failed to comply with a broad demand to hand over user communications — a request the company believed was unconstitutional — according to court documents unsealed Thursday that illuminate how federal officials forced American tech companies to participate in the National Security Agency’s controversial PRISM program.
The documents, roughly 1,500 pages worth, outline a secret and ultimately unsuccessful legal battle by Yahoo to resist the government’s demands. The company’s loss required Yahoo to become one of the first to begin providing information to PRISM, a program that gave the NSA extensive access to records of online communications by users of Yahoo and other U.S.-based technology firms.
[Surveillance] [Legality]
3 gambling operators indicted for buying NK hacking software
By Lee Kyung-min
Three men were indicted for buying hacking programs from North Korean agents to use for online gambling, prosecutors said Wednesday. .
The programs were allegedly used for the North's cyber attack against Korean firms and government agencies last year.
The three told investigators that they were planning to sell the software to an online betting site operator, who wanted to use it to cheat gamblers.
They first came into contact with the Shenyang-based North Korean hackers in April 2011, and paid them 14 million won ($13,658).
[Hacking]
The Intercept: S. Korea seen by US as possible intelligence threat
Posted on : Aug.7,2014 18:02 KST
“United States SIGINT System January 2007 Strategic Mission List”, leaked by Edward Snowden to journalist Glenn Greenwald.
Leaked documents obtained by online publication show S. Korea listed among countries that could carry out espionage
By Park Hyun, Washington correspondent
The US National Security Agency (NSA) included South Korea on a list of countries it believes could conduct espionage activities against the American government, an online publication reported on Aug. 4.
Independent American online publication The Intercept said that this information was included in a secret document (United States SIGINT System January 2007 Strategic Mission List) that was provided by Edward Snowden, former CIA technical assistant.
In a section of the document titled “Countering Foreign Intelligence Threats,” the NSA stated that the countries that represent the greatest threat for “espionage/intelligence collection operations . . . directed against U.S. government, military, science & technology and Intelligence Community” are China, Russia, Cuba, Israel, Iran, Pakistan, North Korea, France, Venezuela, and South Korea.
(http://cryptome.org/2013/11/nsa-sigint-strategic-mission-2007.pdf)
Reports had confirmed that the NSA had chosen South Korea’s diplomatic and military policy, intelligence organizations, and strategic technology as key targets for intelligence collection in 2007. This shows that the US not only monitors South Korean intelligence organizations but also regards them as a threat to the US national interest.
[Espionage] [Client] [Snowden]
Personal Privacy Is Only One of the Costs of NSA Surveillance
By Kim Zetter
There is no doubt the integrity of our communications and the privacy of our online activities have been the biggest casualty of the NSA’s unfettered surveillance of our digital lives. But the ongoing revelations of government eavesdropping has had a profound impact on the economy, the security of the internet and the credibility of the U.S. government’s leadership when it comes to online governance.
These are among the many serious costs and consequences the NSA and those who sanctioned its activities—including the White House, the Justice Department and lawmakers like Sen. Dianne Feinstein—apparently have not considered, or acknowledged, according to a report by the New America Foundation’s Open Technology Institute.
“Too often, we have discussed the National Security Agency’s surveillance programs through the distorting lens of a simplistic ‘security versus privacy’ narrative,” said Danielle Kehl, policy analyst at the Open Technology Institute and primary author of the report. “But if you look closer, the more accurate story is that in the name of security, we’re trading away not only privacy, but also the U.S. tech economy, internet openness, America’s foreign policy interests and cybersecurity.”
[NSA] [Surveillance] [Blowback]
In NSA-intercepted data, those not targeted far outnumber the foreigners who are
Files provided by Snowden show extent to which ordinary Web users are caught in the net
By Barton Gellman, Julie Tate and Ashkan Soltani July 5 ?
Ordinary Internet users, American and non-American alike, far outnumber legally targeted foreigners in the communications intercepted by the National Security Agency from U.S. digital networks, according to a four-month investigation by The Washington Post.
Nine of 10 account holders found in a large cache of intercepted conversations, which former NSA contractor Edward Snowden provided in full to The Post, were not the intended surveillance targets but were caught in a net the agency had cast for somebody else.
[NSA] [Surveillance]
Foreign laptops increasingly popular item for North Korean middle class
North Korea's elite move mobile computing as laptops become status symbol
July 10th, 2014
Phebe Kim
Foreign laptops have become a new status symbol among North Korean high-ranking officials as more top-ranking North Korean elites can afford to buy costly foreign-made luxury items.
According to defector testimonies, the move marks a shift among North Korean’s upper classes towards mobile computing, as laptops from China, Japan and the West increasingly leak across North Korea’s borders.
“I think it is a luxury item for high-ranking officials. … similar to how [South] Koreans drive expensive cars to feel good and let loose a little,” Lee, a North Korean defector told NK News.
“People who have a lot of money use laptops. Right now, I heard that people can buy laptops in the common market, but since it is so costly, the average person can’t even think of buying one”.
North Korean regions with the most laptop users are Pyongyang, large cities like Rajin or border areas, says Jimin, another North Korean defector. “Pyongyang, in particular, is where North Korea’s rich live and where North Korea’s top universities are gathered.”
“I think it is a luxury item for high-ranking officials”
“The majority that use laptops are students. College students, especially those in engineering really need computers, so I hear many have and use computers,” added Jimin.
Washington based news outlet Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported in 2010 that students used laptops to listen to university lectures, and a recent Daily NK article added that language students were fuelling a demand for electronic dictionaries among North Korea’s elite.
[ICT]
German govt cancels Verizon contract in wake of U.S. spying row
Thu Jun 26, 2014 5:26pm EDT
(Adds background on Verizon contract, paragraph 7)
(Reuters) - The German government has cancelled a contract with U.S. telecoms firm Verizon Communications Inc as part of an overhaul of its internal communications, prompted by revelations last year of U.S. government spying.
Reports based on disclosures by former U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden alleged Washington had conducted mass surveillance in Germany and had even eavesdropped on Chancellor Angela Merkel's mobile phone.
Berlin subsequently demanded talks with Washington on a "no-spy" deal, but these collapsed after the United States appeared unwilling to give the assurances Germany wanted.
Germany also launched an overhaul of its internal communications and secure government networks. This is one of the first actions involving a U.S. firm to result.
[Surveillance] [Cyberespionage] [Germany]
NSA Whistleblower: Snowden Never Had Access to the “Juiciest” Intelligence Documents
NSA Spying On Congress, Admirals, Lawyers … Content As Well As Metadata … Cheney Was Running the Show
By Washington's Blog
Global Research, June 09, 2014
Washington's Blog 7 June 2014
NSA whistleblower Russel Tice was a key source in the 2005 New York Times report that blew the lid off the Bush administration’s use of warrantless wiretapping.
Tice told PBS and other media that the NSA is spying on – and blackmailing – top government officials and military officers, including Supreme Court Justices, highly-ranked generals, Colin Powell and other State Department personnel, and many other top officials:
[Surveillance]
Google Maps Helps Users Find Their Way Round N.Korea
Google Maps has added a pathfinding function to its map of North Korea, according to website North Korea Tech.
Google Maps allows users to find out routes and travel time between any two points and can be used on computers, tablet PCs and smartphones.
Users can now discover that it takes seven minutes by car from Mansudae Hill, where giant statues of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il stand, to Kim Il-sung Stadium in Pyongyang. The distance is 3.2 km and it takes 39 minutes on foot, if Google is to be believed.
Google Maps guides users to all major points across the North. It shows that a car journey between Mansudae Hill and the Aoji coalmine in North Hamgyong Province takes 10 hours and 30 minutes via Danchon, Kimchaek, and Chongjin along National Route 7.
The service may not fully reflect road conditions in the North. "Since last year, we've let ordinary users upload geographic information about the North," a Google Korea executive said. "The pathfinding service is based on this information."
Full Text: The United States' Global Surveillance Record (4)
Xinhua News Agency May 27, 2014 7:02am
II. The United States sets China as the main target of its secret surveillance
Evidence provided by Snowden shows that China is one of the major targets of the United States' illegal spying operations. The United States has eavesdropped on Chinese state leaders, scientific institutes, universities and enterprises.
Documents revealed by Snowden to Der Spiegel prove that the United States has conducted mass cyber-attacks on China, targeting Chinese state leaders and the giant high-tech company Huawei. Attacks were also aimed at the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as Chinese banks and telecommunication companies. According to Der Spiegel, the spying operations also covered several former Chinese state leaders, and government departments and banks.
[Cyberespionage]
Glenn Greenwald: 'I don't trust the UK not to arrest me. Their behaviour has been extreme'
He has been lauded and vilified in equal measure. But did the journalist's 'outsider' status help him land Edward Snowden's NSA revelations? Why did he nearly miss the story? And how powerless did he feel when his partner was detained at Heathrow? One year after the scoop, we meet him in his jungle paradise in Rio
Ed Pilkington
The Guardian, Monday 12 May 2014
The dogs can smell Glenn Greenwald long before they see him. As we drive up the hill to his house, a cacophony of barking greets us. The chorus is so overwhelming it makes me think of the National Security Agency (NSA) chiefs who Greenwald has tormented over the past year."They don't bite," Greenwald says as we are engulfed by the pack of strays that he and his partner, David Miranda, have rescued. After a beat, he adds: "… as long as you don't show any fear." I'm not certain he's joking, which is awkward, given that there are 12 of them, ranging from an 80lb Burmese mountain dog to a rat-sized miniature pinscher.
The image of Greenwald and his dogs has been beamed around the world by news organisations since his first NSA revelations were published by the Guardian last year. A writer with a devoted following even before the revelations, he now enjoys more widespread exposure, particularly in the US where his brand of aggressive campaigning journalism has attracted both paeans and condemnation.
But the sight of him surrounded by the animals still comes as a shock. It underlines how dramatically the internet has revolutionised journalism and the nature of the newsroom.
Think of that legendary 1973 photograph of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein at the height of Watergate. They are sitting at manual typewriters under neon lights in the Washington Post newsroom. The photo speaks to the power of institutions – that of their newspaper just as much as the White House they were investigating.
Now think of where I'm standing in Glenn Greenwald's retreat, shrouded in jackfruit, banana and lemon trees, where monkeys call in daily and only yesterday a lethal spider the size of a fist was discovered in the bathroom. This is the newsroom of 2014, almost 5,000 miles from Washington DC, the jungle office of the journalist that the former NSA contractor Edward Snowden handpicked to be his conduit to the outside world.
[Snowden] [Media]
Google Knew! And We Knew! For Over Four Years!
Tuesday, May 06, 2014
What China, India, and Obama Tell Us About Google
It’s now cool to dump on Google.
At Al Jazeera, Jason Leopold obtained copies of e-mail exchanges between the NSA’s Keith Alexander & Google executives.
The meetings addressed an apparently benign episode of behind-the-scenes jiggery pokery, in this case discussions concerning NSA-industry cooperation on various cybervulnerabilities.
But, since it’s Google, there’s also room for darker interpretations:
Email exchanges between National Security Agency Director Gen. Keith Alexander and Google executives Sergey Brin and Eric Schmidt suggest a far cozier working relationship between some tech firms and the U.S. government than was implied by Silicon Valley brass after last year’s revelations about NSA spying.
Disclosures by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden about the agency’s vast capability for spying on Americans’ electronic communications prompted a number of tech executives whose firms cooperated with the government to insist they had done so only when compelled by a court of law.
But Al Jazeera has obtained two sets of email communications dating from a year before Snowden became a household name that suggest not all cooperation was under pressure.
Well, I dumped on Google before it was cool, when the Google slogan “Don’t Be Evil” sent a thrill up techies’ legs instead of a derisive smile to their lips.
It was clear long before Snowden that Google was in bed with the US government.
[Surveillance]
Journey to North Korea's volcano: British scientists visit Mount Paektu
In a rare move, North Korea invited seismologist James Hammond to assess the world's most enigmatic volcano. He tells Alex Peel he believes science could help Pyongyang open up
Alex Peel for the Natural Environment Research Council
theguardian.com, Wednesday 23 April 2014 11.00 BST
A thousand years ago, it was responsible for one of the largest volcanic eruptions in human history. It left a four-kilometre-wide hole in the east-Asian landscape and a thick blanket of ash over the Korean peninsula and beyond. Until a couple of decades ago, only a handful of people knew it even existed.
Mount Paektu volcano straddles the boundary between two of the world's most secretive states - China and North Korea. It's showing signs of life, and its hosts are worried. So much so that, a few years ago North Korea, normally so closed to the outside world, made a call for international help.
"It was all a bit serendipitous", explains seismologist and Natural Environment Research Council (Nerc) fellow Dr James Hammond, who received the call through a complex chain of indirect contacts. "We got about two weeks' notice before we had to be out there. I was a little bit nervous, as I would be going anywhere, but it seemed like a great opportunity to work somewhere that is fascinating both from a geological perspective and culturally."
Yes, It Looks Like the US Government Coordinated the 2012 Anonymous China Hacks
On April 23, Mark Mazzetti reported in the New York Times that the FBI had used Hector Xavier Monsegur, a hacker it had in its clutches, to coordinate hacks in 2012 against Iran, Syria, Brazil, and Pakistan, and other targets. The actual hacks were carried about by an associate of Monsegur, Jeremy Hammond, who was a dupe in that he did not know that Monsegur was turning over the information and access he gleaned to the US government.
Jeremy Hammond is serving a ten-year jail sentence for other hacks. I’m not clear if Monsegur is currently incarcerated; last reference I saw was to the cancellation of a 2013 court date that was expected to give him a suspended sentence for a previous guilty plea. In addition to running the foreign hacks for the US government, Monsegur also rolled up his own Lulzsec hacking network, which carried out s series of US hacks in a spectacular 50-day campaign, and his months if not years of cooperation with the US government may have netted him some favorable treatment.
Mazzetti’s article does not mention China; but I did! Back in 2012!
Back on 2012 I wrote for Asia Times Online about “Hardcore Charlie”, who identified himself as an associate of Monsegur and the hacks he had inflicted on various Chinese government websites.
At the time, it seemed fishy to me that “Hardcore Charlie”—whose profanity-laced anti-imperialist Spanglish rants sounded a lot like Monsegur’s persona—had suddenly decided that the cause of liberty and lulz was best served by hacking into Chinese language websites like the Taoyuan Land Reclamation Bureau.
[Cyberwar] [outsourcing] [China confrontation]
Blasts from the past: Extinct North Korea websites
Was there life before NKNews? A backward glance at some early pioneers
April 21st, 2014
Aidan Foster-Carter
The Internet is still young, and North Korea remains a hermit Kimdom. But that’s a losing wicket. The World Wide Web brooks no exceptions. Already it has utterly transformed both the quantity and quality of our information about the DPRK, as indeed about everything else.
To those of us who remember when knowledge only came printed on paper, the difference is staggering. What was the preserve of a handful of specialists, published in arcane tomes and obscure periodicals found in few libraries, is now available to just about anyone anywhere in the world – except North Korea, of course – at the mere click of a mouse. That is amazing.
Such a democratization of insight is, of course, progress. Yet evolution is always a Darwinian process. Overall the net gain is huge, but there have been losses and casualties along the way.
So, dear reader, let me take you on a trip down memory lane if you are of riper years – or if you’re young, on a voyage of discovery. North Korea itself is a dinosaur, clinging fiercely on while elsewhere mammals rule the planet. Yet, ironically, the DPRK has outlived some of the first websites which set out to cover it. So perhaps those are the real dinosaurs, though as we shall see the reasons for their extinction vary: it’s not always a case of survival of the fittest.
U.S. cyberwarfare force to grow significantly, defense secretary says
By Ellen Nakashima, Updated: Saturday, March 29, 11:18 AM
The Pentagon is significantly growing the ranks of its cyberwarfare unit in an effort to deter and defend against foreign attacks on crucial U.S. networks, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Friday.
In his first major speech on cyber policy, Hagel sought to project strength but also to tame perceptions of the United States as an aggressor in computer warfare, stressing that the government “does not seek to militarize cyberspace.”
His remarks, delivered at the retirement ceremony of Gen. Keith Alexander, the outgoing director of the National Security Agency and Cyber Command, come in advance of Hagel’s trip to China next week, his first as defense secretary. The issues of cyberwarfare and cyber-espionage have been persistent sources of tensions between Washington and Beijing.
[Cyberwar]
Spying Is Bad for Business:
Can we trust an Internet that’s become a weapon of governments?
• By Antonio Regalado on March 18, 2014
Contents
• Spying Is Bad for Business
• Cyberspying Targets Energy Secrets
• Spinoffs from Spyland
• For Swiss Data Industry, NSA Leaks Are Good as Gold
• The Year of Encryption
• For $3,500, a Spy-Resistant Smartphone
• Before Snowden, There Was Huawe
•
• Following a one-day summit in Brasilia this February, negotiators from Brazil and Europe reached a deal to lay a $185 million fiber-optic cable spanning the 3,476 miles between Fortaleza and Lisbon. The cable will be built by a consortium of Spanish and Brazilian companies. According to Brazil’s president, Dilma Rousseff, it will “protect freedom.” No longer will South America’s Internet traffic get routed through Miami, where American spies might see it.
She’s not being paranoid. Documents leaked last June by former U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden revealed a global surveillance operation coördinated by the U.S. National Security Agency and its counterpart in Britain, the GCHQ. Among the hundreds of millions of alleged targets of the dragnet: Brazil’s state oil company, Petrobras, as well as Rousseff’s own cell phone.
The big question in this MIT Technology Review business report is how the Snowden revelations are affecting the technology business. Some of the consequences are already visible. Consumers are favoring anonymous apps. Large Internet companies, like Google, have raced to encrypt all their communications. In Germany, legislators are discussing an all-European communications grid.
There is a risk that the Internet could fracture into smaller national networks, protected by security barriers. In this view, Brazil’s new cable is akin to China’s Great Firewall (that country’s system for censoring Web results), or calls by nationalists in Russia to block Skype, or an unfolding German plan to keep most e-mail traffic within its borders. Nations are limiting access to their networks. The result, some believe, could be the collapse of the current Internet.
Analysts including Forrester Research predict billions in losses for U.S. Internet services such as Dropbox and Amazon because of suspicion from technology consumers, particularly in Europe, in the wake of Snowden’s revelations. “The Snowden leaks have painted a U.S.-centric Internet infrastructure, and now people are looking for alternatives,” says James Lewis, director of the strategic technologies program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C.
Many nations eavesdrop, each for their own reasons. Some target dissidents with malware to watch their keystrokes. Others, like China, also bleed companies of intellectual secrets about jet fighters and wind turbines. So pervasive and successful has digital espionage become that in 2012, Keith Alexander, the Army general in charge of the NSA, described it as “the greatest transfer of wealth in history.” He estimated that U.S. companies lose $250 billion a year to intellectual-property theft.
[Internet] [Snowden] [US dominance]
Iran’s Case against Stuxnet
By Shahrooz Shekaraubi | March 18, 2014
Speculation has it that Iran wants to pursue legal action against the US-Israeli led Stuxnet cyberattack.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani
If the rumors prove to be true, Iran’s case against the United States could give the international community a great opportunity to use the case as needed momentum towards setting official international regulations on cyberwarfare. Arguably, the Stuxnet cyberattack is an illegal act of force that violated the Charter of the United Nations, the IAEA safeguards regime, and Iranian sovereignty as well.
After the U.S.-Israeli cyberattack, Tehran took a relatively passive posture and never officially complained to international legal channels. Shortly before President Rouhani took office in Tehran , an anonymous Iranian diplomat made public that Iran’s Foreign Ministry had enough evidence to take legal steps against the United States for the Stuxnet cyberattack. If Iran takes legal action against Washington it can demand that it receive compensations for damages caused and having its sovereignty violated by an illegal act of war. A lot is at stake as Iran’s determination against the cyberattack could set boundaries for future illegal cyber behavior.
[Stuxnet] [Cyberwar] [Legality]
U.S. to relinquish remaining control over the Internet
By Craig Timberg, Saturday, March 15, 10:19 AM E-mail the writer
U.S. officials announced plans Friday to relinquish federal government control over the administration of the Internet, a move likely to please international critics but alarm some business leaders and others who rely on smooth functioning of the Web.
Pressure to let go of the final vestiges of U.S. authority over the system of Web addresses and domain names that organize the Internet has been building for more than a decade and was supercharged by the backlash to revelations about National Security Agency surveillance last year.
“The timing is right to start the transition process,” said Lawrence E. Strickling, assistant secretary of commerce for communications and information. “We look forward to ICANN convening stakeholders across the global Internet community to craft an appropriate transition plan.”
The practical consequences of the decision were not immediately clear, but it could alleviate rising global complaints that the United States essentially controls the Web and takes advantage of its oversight role to help spy on the rest of the world.
[Internet] [US dominance] [Spin]
N. Korea Enlists American Vulcanologist For Help With Active Volcano
February 22, 2014 8:00 AM
American volcanologist Kayla Iacovino trekked last year to Mount Paektu, an active volcano in North Korea. NPR's Scott Simon speaks with Iacovino about her work in the secretive country.
SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
A reconciliation of a different sort is going on in North Korea. The country contains a massive volcano, Mount Paektu, and lately it's been showing signs of increasing activity. Few foreigners have ever gotten close to it. But last August, after years of negotiations, a team of international scientists was allowed into the country. Vulcanologist Kayla Iacovino was part of the group that trekked to the crater to set up seismic equipment and to collect rock samples.
She joined us from BBC studios in Cambridge where she's just completed her Ph.D. thesis, and we asked what drew her to this particular volcano that's so difficult to get to.
KAYLA IACOVINO: It's actually on the border between China and North Korea. In fact, the border between those two countries cuts right through the center of the crater. Because of where it's located, it's so poorly studied that even most vulcanologists don't know it even exists, but it actually produced one of the largest eruptions in human history.
SIMON: Does the isolation of North Korea from much of the rest of the world mitigate against scientists studying it?
IACOVINO: Oh, precisely. I think that's probably the number one reason why there hasn't been more studies there. There was one study done, I think it was published in 2000 where one of the scientists was able to go into North Korea and actually take samples there. But other than that there haven't been any studies on the North Korean side of the volcano.
SIMON: Are there any fears that it's due to erupt?
IACOVINO: Well, it's so hard to say, but one of the goals of our project is to try to understand both the past behavior and the current state of the volcano and maybe have some hope of trying to answer that question.
[Paektu] [Media]
Yongusil 28: USKI on Koryolink
By Darcie Draudt | March 08, 2014
On March 6, the U.S.-Korea Institute (USKI) at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) hosted a panel to launch research on the state of telecommunications in North Korea conducted by Kim Yonho, staff reporter for Voice of America’s Korea service. The work corroborates what Sino-NK editor Christopher Green had outlined in 2012.
Kim’s research was supported by USKI and VOA. The panel also included Dr. Alexandre Mansourov, professor at SAIS and founding member of the U.S. National Committee on North Korea (NCNK) and Sascha Meinrath, vice president of the New America Foundation, who was able to draw comparisons to the proliferation of new wireless technologies in other contexts. The panel was moderated by USKI Director Dr. Jae Ku.
The report is available here, and outlines network development with Orascom and Koryolink subscriber growth in recent years. Despite Orascom pulling back on its investment due to profits being stuck in North Korea, North Korea is undergoing a veritable boom of subscribers, from a reported one million in January 2012 jumped to two million in January 2013—which, as Dr. Mansourov underscored in his remarks, may be underreported due to the complicated subscription plans and plan workarounds that North Koreans employ. The number of subscribers, he suggested, may be closer to three million. This is all the more important when one considers the number of landlines in North Korea is 1.1 million—a number that has been static for the past forty years.
Kim Yonho explained that the regime has linked Koryolink to the concept of “strong and prosperous nation” (????), claiming North Korea has reached technological modernity. Koryolink is seen as an expression of the regime’s confidence in control. The regime sees it as a good method to use marketization to maintain regime stabilization
[Mobile]
How Covert Agents Infiltrate the Internet to Manipulate, Deceive, and Destroy Reputations
By Glenn Greenwald 24 Feb 2014, 6:25 PM EST 517
Featured photo - How Covert Agents Infiltrate the Internet to Manipulate, Deceive, and Destroy Reputations A page from a GCHQ top secret document prepared by its secretive JTRIG unit
One of the many pressing stories that remains to be told from the Snowden archive is how western intelligence agencies are attempting to manipulate and control online discourse with extreme tactics of deception and reputation-destruction. It’s time to tell a chunk of that story, complete with the relevant documents.
Over the last several weeks, I worked with NBC News to publish a series of articles about “dirty trick” tactics used by GCHQ’s previously secret unit, JTRIG (Joint Threat Research Intelligence Group). These were based on four classified GCHQ documents presented to the NSA and the other three partners in the English-speaking “Five Eyes” alliance. Today, we at the Intercept are publishing another new JTRIG document, in full, entitled “The Art of Deception: Training for Online Covert Operations.”
By publishing these stories one by one, our NBC reporting highlighted some of the key, discrete revelations: the monitoring of YouTube and Blogger, the targeting of Anonymous with the very same DDoS attacks they accuse “hacktivists” of using, the use of “honey traps” (luring people into compromising situations using sex) and destructive viruses. But, here, I want to focus and elaborate on the overarching point revealed by all of these documents: namely, that these agencies are attempting to control, infiltrate, manipulate, and warp online discourse, and in doing so, are compromising the integrity of the internet itself.
[IO]
Internet governance too US-centric, says European commission
Commission says NSA revelations call into question US role in internet governance, which should be more global
Ian Traynor in Brussels
The Guardian, Wednesday 12 February 2014 16.56 GMT
The mass surveillance carried out by the US National Security Agency means that governance of the internet has to be made more international and less dominated by America, the European Union's executive has declared.
Setting out proposals on how the world wide web should function and be regulated, the European commission called for a shift away from the California-based Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann), which is subject to US law, is contracted by the US administration and is empowered to supervise how digital traffic operates.
[Surveillance] [Subordinate] [Internet] [US dominance]
N.Korean Copycat OS Switches from Microsoft to Apple
If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, North Korea's computer operating system Red Star 3.0 bears witness to a switch of allegiance from Microsoft to Apple in the Stalinist country.
Since the early 2000s, the North has been using its own software on computers found mostly in libraries and schools. Its predecessors, Red Star 1.1 and Red Star 2.0, were modified versions of Linux with background screens and menus copied from Microsoft Windows.
But Red Star 3.0, according to the BBC on Thursday, bears a close resemblance to the Apple Mac OSX program, from the way users can set background images to how icons have been placed on the main window.
The latest version of North Korean computer operating system Red Star /North Korea Tech The latest version of North Korean computer operating system Red Star /North Korea Tech
Replacing the Apple logo in the top left hand corner of the screen is a red star.
The calendar does not say 2014 but 103, the number of years since the birth of nation founder Kim Il-sung.
The screenshots of Red Star 3.0 were obtained by American computer scientist Will Scott, who taught at the private Pyongyang University of Science and Technology as a visiting professor, and first published on the North Korea Tech blog.
Scott bought the program from the Korea Computer Center in Pyongyang and brought it back to the U.S. KCC is the North's biggest computer and IT organization and developed the Red Star platform.
The switch may reflect leader Kim Jong-un's personal preference for Apple products. Red Star 3.0 was developed after he came to power in late 2011.
Back to the Future With the NSA
by Pepe Escobar
In the spring of 1986, Back to the Future, the Michael J Fox blockbuster featuring a time-traveling DeLorean car, was less than a year old. The Apple Macintosh, launched via a single, iconic ad directed by Ridley Blade Runner Scott, was less than two years old. Ronald Reagan, immortalized by Gore Vidal as “the acting president”, was hailing the mujahideen in Afghanistan as “freedom fighters”.
The world was mired in Cyber Cold War mode; the talk was all about electronic counter-measures, with American C3s (command, control, communications) programmed to destroy Soviet C3s, and both the US and the USSR under MAD (mutually assured destruction) nuclear policies being able to destroy the earth 100 times over. Edward Snowden was not yet a three-year-old.
It was in this context that I set out to do a special report for a now defunct magazine about Artificial Intelligence (AI), roving from the Computer Museum in Boston to Apple in Cupertino and Pixar in San Rafael, and then to the campuses of Stanford, Berkeley and the MIT.
[AI] [NSA]
The Inside Story of Tor, the Best Internet Anonymity Tool the Government Ever Built
By Dune Lawrence January 23, 2014
Illustration by David Parkins after M.C. Escher
Last year, Edward Snowden turned over to the Guardian, a British newspaper, some 58,000 classified U.S. government documents. Just a fraction of the files have been made public, but they outline the National Security Agency’s massive information-collection system. They’ve thrown light onto the methods of an arm of the government used to working in the shadows and started an intense debate over national security and personal liberty. One of the earliest and most explosive revelations was the existence of Prism, a top-secret program giving the NSA direct access to the systems of Google, Facebook, and other U.S. Internet companies.
Snowden himself remains something of a mystery even as the U.S. government attempts to obtain his return from Russia, where he’s in hiding, and very possibly jail him for the rest of his life. As an infrastructure analyst for the NSA, he came to understand at a high level how information moves around the Internet. Snowden almost certainly relied on one very specific and powerful tool to cover his tracks. In photographs he’s often with his laptop, and on the cover of his computer, a sticker shows a purple and white onion: the “o” in the word “Tor.”
[Surveillance] [Subversion]
South Korea's New Hybrid Media: Wall Posters Gone Viral
Posted: 01/21/2014 4:20 pm
Seung-yoon Lee was the first East Asian President of the Oxford Union. He is a final year Philosophy, Politics and Economics student at Hertford College, Oxford.
Daniel Tudor is a British writer who has served as Korea correspondent for The Economist. His most recent book is 'Korea: The Impossible Country'. He is also a founding partner of The Booth, one of a handful of craft beer companies in Korea.
SEOUL -- For around a decade, South Korea has been a byword for advanced internet connectivity. With the world's earliest mass adoption of broadband - and at the fastest speeds - this nation of 50 million is regularly cited as the "world's most wired". The introduction last year of LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) mobile communications means that Koreans now enjoy the world's fastest wireless network as well.
And despite South Korea's image as a follower (albeit a fast one), this country has been ahead of the pack on a surprising number of internet innovations. A firm named Saerom developed Dialpad, a VoIP service, three years before Skype came along. And when Facebook and even Myspace were mere minnows, millions of Koreans were already using a social network named Cyworld. Lee Jun-seok, a South Korean entrepreneur and political activist, fondly remembers e-mailing his Harvard classmate Mark Zuckerberg, "We already have Cyworld, a far better and more sophisticated website. Your start-up will fail soon."
Famous last words, of course. But the most profound effects of Korea's internet mania have been felt in the realm of politics, rather than business. In 2002, liberal candidate Roh Moo-hyun had been all but written off for that December's presidential election race, but narrowly won following a last-minute surge led by online fan-club Nosamo ('people who love Roh Moo-hyun) and the efforts of a then-fledgling 'citizen journalism' site named Ohmynews.
Roh repaid Ohmynews by giving them his first post-victory interview - perhaps unsurprising given that the mainstream press strongly backed his rival Lee Hoi-chang. According to tech journalist Cyrus Farivar, this was "likely the first (and probably only) time that a major national leader gave his or her initial interview to an online-only publication."
[social media]
A Closer Look at the ‘Explosion of Cell Phone Subscribers’ in North Korea
By Yonho Kim
26 November 2013
The North Korean mobile telecommunications market has seen dramatic subscriber growth over the past five years contrary to initial speculations that mobile service would be limited to the elite. The 3G service, Koryolink, was launched in December 2008 by CHEO Technology JV Company, a joint venture between the Egyptian telecommunications firm Orascom (75 percent) and the North Korean Korea Post and Telecommunications Corporation (25 percent). In just over three years, Koryolink reached one million subscribers by February 2012, and then doubled that rate in 15 months, reaching two million subscribers in May 2013.[1] As of the end of the third quarter of 2011, Koryolink’s network consisted of 453 base stations covering the capital, Pyongyang, as well as 14 main cities and 86 smaller cities.[2]
[Mobiles] [ICT]
How to Counter America’s Digital Hegemony
Boris KAZANTSEV | 23.11.2013 | 00:00
The digital world, or cyberspace, is at a crossroads in its development. And not with respect to specific technologies, but with respect to state policy concepts regarding cyberspace and how and to what extent the state should influence it. The revelations of Edward Snowden were a jolt that has caused an avalanche of thoughts in many countries. And at the center of these thoughts are a single problem: how to maintain state sovereignty in an era of total digital transparency where there are methods of collecting information that in the past no one had even dreamed of.
The American concept of cyberspace cannot but be imperialistic. This means that the security of the U.S. becomes the point of reference for the behavior of all other countries and international organizations, to which the imperial "Center" may show "favor" by granting access to part of its capabilities, while demanding full submission in return.While previously this submission was expressed in the adoption of the culture, economy and currency of the "Center", now it is expressed in the requirement to acknowledge the dominance of American IT corporations on the domestic markets of other countries. Furthermore, it is implied that other countries are not to independently maintain their own cyber-resources, as the "supreme protector" has already taken care of everything. The idea of an "informational umbrella", as it were.
[Imperialism] [Cyberspace] [Hegemony]
The road from web 1.984
Jonny LeRoy 21 November 2013
We are realising that the 'free' services we use online carry huge hidden costs. A totally administered society is being built from billions of moments of self-disclosure. Here Jonny LeRoy, the Head of Technology at ThoughtWorks North America, describes what's at stake, and how we can put an end to the harvesting of what it means to be human.
Web 2.0 has had a massive impact for good on the lives of modern humans. Web 2.0 has also been complicit in ushering in the most advanced, pervasive and Orwellian surveillance state ever witnessed by humanity. You could say that Web 2.0 has morphed into Web 1.984.
How might we retain the benefits of a hyper-connected and computer-augmented society without being constantly watched by people whose interests may not always directly align with ours? How can we use technology to fashion a future that we actually want to inhabit?
The full details of the monitoring apparatus that the NSA, CIA and other “security” agencies have constructed are still trickling out from the cache of documents released into the wild by Edward Snowden. What has become clear is that every action performed in the digital arena, whether it be sending an email, making a phone call, browsing a website, tweeting an opinion, buying an item, taking a photo or just moving around with a phone in your pocket, can, and usually is, being intercepted, stored and mined for information. The technologies and services that allow us to be constantly connected to information, colleagues, friends and loved ones at the same time allow the government to snoop on private citizens in an unprecedented, unrequested and effectively unregulated manner.
How did we get into this mess?
The collection of technologies and business models loosely known as Web 2.0, such as GMail, Facebook, Twitter, Dropbox, Salesforce and many others, have revolutionized how we communicate, work and play. Web 2.0 is the result of the convergence of new technologies and a new business model. The key technological changes were firstly the massive increase in compute power and storage capacity, particularly when centralized into “the cloud”, and secondly the growing ubiquity of connectivity - we all now have a slice of the internet in our pockets. This technological capability enabled a new business model whereby services are exchanged not for money, but for data. The underlying rationale of all the ostensibly free services now offered, is that the data generated by people using them has enormous value, particularly to advertisers.
[Surveillance] [Internet]
FBI director warns of cyberattacks; other security chiefs say terrorism threat has altered
MICHAEL REYNOLDS/EPA - FBI Director James Comey Jr. testifies Thursday before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Capitol Hill.
By Greg Miller, Published: November 15
FBI Director James B. Comey testified Thursday that the risk of cyberattacks is likely to exceed the danger posed by al-Qaeda and other terrorist networks as the top national security threat to the United States and will become the dominant focus of law enforcement and intelligence services.
Appearing before the Senate Homeland Security Committee, Comey said he expected Internet-related attacks, espionage and theft to emerge as the most consuming security issue for the United States by the end of his 10-year FBI term.
“We have connected all of our lives — personal, professional and national — to the Internet,” Comey said. “That’s where the bad guys will go because that’s where our lives are, our money, our secrets.”
The warning underscored the growing sense of alarm among officials in Washington over the nation’s vulnerability to online attacks as well as the diminished ability of al-Qaeda to mount plots against the United States after more than a decade of CIA drone strikes and other counterterrorism operations.
[Cyberactivism]
Focus on North Korean cyber threat ignores South Korea’s threat within
August 30th, 2013
Author: Soo-Kyung Koo, Washington DC
Since the first large-scale distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack in July 2009, the South Korean government has consistently accused North Korea of responsibility for other nation-wide cyber incidents. Specifically, it blames a hacking and cyber warfare unit established in 2009 under the military-led Reconnaissance General Bureau.
The South Korean government has two reasons for suspecting North Korean involvement. The first reason is technical: malicious code originating from North Korea has been discovered, and the attacks have been launched from IP addresses — both domestic and foreign — used by North Korea. However, these are not definitive indicators of guilt. Obfuscating or spoofing an IP address, or copying malicious code from other hackers who have shared it via hacking forums or from other sources, can be performed by the average teenage hacker.
The second reason is motivation. Most of the targets have been government agencies, and, even when financial institutions were attacked, hackers attempted to obtain sensitive or classified information rather than cash. The suspicion, unsurprisingly, has fallen on North Korea, which has a clear motivation for such espionage. But it is a mis-statement to say that the North Korean government is not interested in eCrime. Their government has regularly been involved in money laundering, counterfeiting and smuggling drugs to earn foreign currency. A principle operation of North Korean hackers belonging to the government hacking unit is to create tools for taking cash from online game websites and to be sold to Chinese and Korean criminals. They also hack personal information from commercial websites.
This focus on external threats has, however, ignored the threat from within
[Cyberactivism]
N.Korea Boosting Cyber Warfare Capabilities
North Korea is making massive preparations for cyber warfare against the South, the National Intelligence Service said in a parliamentary audit Monday.
The NIS quoted North Korean leader Kim Jong-un as saying that alongside nuclear weapons and missiles, cyber warfare capabilities are "a magic weapon" that empowers the North Korean army to launch "ruthless strikes" on the South.
The remarks were relayed by Saenuri Party lawmaker Cho Won-jin of the Intelligence Committee.
The North Korean Tablet Computer Samjiyon: Hardware, Software and Resources
A 38 North Product Review by Ruediger Frank
A few months ago the ever-growing community of those interested in the DPRK learned that there is now something like a local version of the iPad—the Samjiyon tablet computer (p’anhyong k’omp’yut’o samjiyon). After having had a chance to test it briefly during a visit in May 2013, I could not resist buying a Samjiyon in a shop in Pyongyang in September 2013. It cost me 180 Euros. After a few days of intensive use I can say that this is one of the few cases in my career as a consumer when I got more for my money than I had expected.
[ICT]
US Cyber Command’s Plan X: Pentagon Launching Covert Cyber Attacks
By Tom Burghardt
Global Research, October 03, 2013
In 2008, the Armed Forces Journal published a prescient piece by Colonel Charles W. Williamson III, a staff judge advocate with the Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Agency at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas, the National Security Agency listening post focused on intercepting communications from Latin America, the Middle East and Europe.
Titled “Carpet bombing in cyberspace,” Col. Williamson wrote that “America needs a network that can project power by building an af.mil robot network (botnet) that can direct such massive amounts of traffic to target computers that they can no longer communicate and become no more useful to our adversaries than hunks of metal and plastic. America needs the ability to carpet bomb in cyberspace to create the deterrent we lack.”
While Williamson’s treatise was fanciful (a DDoS attack can’t bring down an opponent’s military forces, or for that matter a society’s infrastructure), he had hit upon a theme which Air Force researchers had been working towards since the 1980s: the development of software-based weapons that can be “fired” at an adversary, potentially as lethal as a bomb dropped from 30,000 feet.
Two years later, evidence emerged that US and Israeli code warriors did something far more damaging.
[Cyberwar] [Stuxnet]
NSA and GCHQ target Tor network that protects anonymity of web users
• Top-secret documents detail repeated efforts to crack Tor
• US-funded tool relied upon by dissidents and activists
• Core security of network remains intact but NSA has some success attacking users' computers
• Bruce Schneier: the NSA's attacks must be made public
• Attacking Tor: the technical details
• 'Peeling back the layers with Egotistical Giraffe' – document
• 'Tor Stinks' presentation – full document
• Tor: 'The king of high-secure, low-latency anonymity'
Follow Glenn Greenwald on security and liberty by emailBeta
James Ball, Bruce Schneier and Glenn Greenwald
The Guardian, Friday 4 October 2013 15.50 BST
NSA laptop
One technique developed by the agency targeted the Firefox web browser used with Tor, giving the agency full control over targets' computers. Photograph: Felix Clay
The National Security Agency has made repeated attempts to develop attacks against people using Tor, a popular tool designed to protect online anonymity, despite the fact the software is primarily funded and promoted by the US government itself.
[Surveillance][Subversion]
GCHQ report on 'MULLENIZE' program to 'stain' anonymous electronic traffic
This 2012 report from the NSA's British counterpart, the General Communications Headquarters, describes a method of "staining" electronic traffic to distinguish otherwise anonymous users. It is used to unmask Tor users and devices on networks in which many computers share the same Internet address. The method relies on planting code in a web browser to change the "user agent," which is the way the browser identifies itself on the web. In a two month period, the report says, GCHQ managed to implant about 200 computers with uniquely identifying stains.
[Surveillance]
Secret NSA documents show campaign against Tor encrypted network
By Barton Gellman, Craig Timberg and Steven Rich,
On Nov. 1, 2007, the National Security Agency hosted a talk by Roger Dingledine, principal designer of one of the world’s leading Internet privacy tools. It was a wary encounter, akin to mutual intelligence gathering, between a spy agency and a man who built tools to ward off electronic surveillance.
According to a top-secret NSA summary of the meeting, Dingledine told the assembled NSA staff that his service, called Tor, offered anonymity to people who needed it badly — to keep business secrets, protect their identities from oppressive political regimes or conduct research without revealing themselves. In the minds of NSA officials, Tor was offering protection to terrorists and other intelligence targets.
As he spoke to the NSA, Dingledine said in an interview Friday, he suspected the agency was attempting to break into Tor, which is used by millions of people around the world to shield their identities. Documents provided to The Washington Post by former agency contractor Edward Snowden show that he was right.
[Surveillance] [Subversion]
What is Tor?
Tor is free software and an open network that helps you defend against traffic analysis, a form of network surveillance that threatens personal freedom and privacy, confidential business activities and relationships, and state security.
Learn more about Tor »
Why Anonymity Matters
Tor protects you by bouncing your communications around a distributed network of relays run by volunteers all around the world: it prevents somebody watching your Internet connection from learning what sites you visit, and it prevents the sites you visit from learning your physical location.
[Surveillance]
U.S. spy agencies mounted 231 offensive cyber-operations in 2011, documents show
By Barton Gellman and Ellen Nakashima, Saturday, August 31, 2:00 AM E-mail the writers
U.S. intelligence services carried out 231 offensive cyber-operations in 2011, the leading edge of a clandestine campaign that embraces the Internet as a theater of spying, sabotage and war, according to top-secret documents obtained by The Washington Post.
That disclosure, in a classified intelligence budget provided by NSA leaker Edward Snowden, provides new evidence that the Obama administration’s growing ranks of cyberwarriors infiltrate and disrupt foreign computer networks.
[cyberwar]
N.Korea's Vast Cyber Warfare Army
North Korea has about 200 agents who spend their time posting comments online to undermine South Korean morale, while the whole contingent of 3,000 cyber warfare experts under the Reconnaissance General Bureau wage cyber terrorism against the South, a private South Korean think tank claims.
The think tank, which studies strategies against North Korea, made the claim in a seminar at the Seoul Press Center on Monday afternoon.
It said the North's cyber warfare troops develop and distribute apps to subvert South Korean efforts to block pro-North Korean websites and conduct guerrilla-style hacking attacks by constantly changing IP addresses and connecting other sites with pro-North Korean sites.
Ryu Dong-ryul of the Police Policy Institute said, "The North has established a team of online trolls at the United Front Department and the Reconnaissance General Bureau." About 200 agents post comments on major South Korean portals and disguise their identity using personal information stolen from South Koreans, he added.
The United Front Department wages its cyber psychological warfare through some 140 sites with servers based in 19 countries. In 2011, North Korean agents posted 27,090 items of propaganda materials against the South, and in 2012 some 41,373, the seminar heard.
South Korea's cyber security capabilities are paltry in comparison. The regime teaches young computer whiz kids about basic hacking technologies at a couple of elite middle schools in Pyongyang. The best then go on to Kim Il-sung Military University, Mirim University or Kim Chaek University of Technology to train as cyber agents for about 10 years.
Lim Jong-in of Korea University said altogether some 30,000 North Koreans are engaged in cyber and psychological warfare against South Korea, and every year another 300 personnel are trained in the dark arts, compared to a mere 30 in South Korea.
[cyberwar] [hysteria]
N.Korea Unveils Homegrown Mobile Phone
The The "Arirang" mobile phone is shown in this undated photo released by the North’s official KCNA news agency in Pyongyang on Sunday. /Reuters-News 1
North Korea on Sunday unveiled a homegrown touch mobile phone dubbed "Arirang," the official KCNA news agency reported.
It said leader Kim Jong-un offered "on-the-spot guidance" for the phone at an electronics factory.
"The Arirang mobile phone looks nice and is light. It features various functions for learning as well as calls," Kim was quoted as saying. "It also has a high-pixel camera that people will find very convenient to use."
The number of mobile phone users in the North has exceeded two million. They can send text messages and make video calls but overseas calls are blocked.
[mobile]
Chinese Smartphone Makers Charge Ahead
One in five smartphones sold worldwide in the second quarter of this year was Chinese-made, market researcher Strategy Analytics said on Monday. Chinese firms ZTE, Huawei, Lenovo and CoolPad had a combined market share of 19 percent, up five percentage points from a year earlier.
In global rankings based on sales volume, the companies came in fourth to seventh place after Samsung, Apple and LG, with combined sales of 43.6 million smartphones. That is less than market leader Samsung's 76 million but slightly eclipses the 43.3 million combined sales of Apple (31.2 million) and LG (12.1 million).
Chinese firms now rank in the middle of the global smartphone market, ahead of traditional major players Nokia and BlackBerry, who only managed to take up a market share of less than four percent.
But some pundits point to Chinese firms' heavy dependence on the domestic market as a drawback.
[Mobile] [China competition]
Kim Jong Un inspects North Korea’s first smartphone, an Android clone
By Max Fisher, Published: August 12 at 9:38 am
(REUTERS/KCNA)
Kim Jong Un visits the “factory” where the country’s new smartphone is reportedly made. (Reuters/KCNA)
North Korea has unveiled its new smartphone, the “Arirang,” an Android clone named after a famous Korean folk song that’s also something of a national anthem. Leader Kim Jong Un visited the factory to inspect the phones to great fanfare, although cellphone data services are still illegal in the country, and the phone may not actually be made in North Korea at all.
North Korea analyst Martyn Williams suspects the phones may actually be produced in China and then quietly shuttled across the border so that North Korean workers can pretend to have built them. The Arirang phones, he writes, “are probably made to order by a Chinese manufacturer and shipped to the [North Korean] Factory where they are inspected before going on sale.”
[Mobile] [Media]
Over 2 Million N.Koreans Have Mobile Phones
There are now more than two million people in North Korea with mobile phones. According to Naguib Sawiris of Egypt's Orascom Telecom, which has the mobile phone license in the isolated country, the number of subscribers hit the landmark in May this year.
This screen grab from a program shown on Free North Korea Radio shows a North Korean woman using a cell phone in Pyongyang. /Free North Korea Radio (file photo) This screen grab from a program shown on Free North Korea Radio shows a North Korean woman using a cell phone in Pyongyang. /Free North Korea Radio (file photo)
North Korea launched mobile phone services in conjunction with a Thai company in 2002 in the Rajin-Sonbong special economic zone near the Chinese border. But use was restricted following a massive explosion at Yongchon Station in North Pyongan Province in April 2004 that allegedly targeted a train carrying then leader Kim Jong-il. Shrapnel from a mobile phone were found at the scene of the blast, prompting security officials to believe a mobile phone was used to detonate the bomb.
In 2008, North Korea set up Koryolink with Orascom. The number of subscribers stood at only 1,600 in the first year but rose to 100,000 in 2009, 500,000 in May 2011 and a million a year later.
Mobile phone users are not just concentrated in Pyongyang but now scattered evenly throughout the 15 major cities and around 100 smaller towns. Party members and other influential or wealthy people are the main clients. High-ranking officials often own two or three mobile phones each, while their children in high school have handsets too.
Chinese-made mobile phones, including ones from Huawei, are mostly used, but party bigwigs favor Motorola and Nokia. A mobile phone costs US$150-300. The latest touch-screen phone costs $350 and between $20 to $30 is paid upfront for activation, according to defectors.
Mobile phones sold legally in North Korea feature not only voice and video calls but also text messaging, video recording and even games, but international calls are blocked. Phone calls are also prohibited with foreigners living in North Korea.
However, North Korean merchants doing business along the Chinese border or informants make calls to other countries on handsets smuggled in from China. One source said North Korea recently decided to allow international calls in Rajin-Sonbong in a bid to attract foreign investment, but this has yet to go into effect.
[Mobile]
China's Internet users grow to 591 million
Michael Kan, IDG News Service
Jul 17, 2013 3:45 AM
China’s Internet populace grew to 591 million by the end of June, as more new users in the country relied on handsets to go online, according to a non-profit research group.
The growth raises China’s Internet penetration by two percentage points to 44 percent, the government-linked China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) reported on Wednesday. During the first half of this year, the country added a total of 26 million new Internet users.
China has the world’s largest Internet population, but still a vast swath of Chinese rarely go online, if ever. Many Chinese still lack knowledge of computers, or have little need to use the Internet, according to the CNNIC. In the country’s rural areas, Internet penetration is especially low, at only 28 percent.
[ICT] [Internet] [Connectivity]
Seoul says North Korea behind June cyberattack on South Korean government, media websites
By Associated Press, Updated: Tuesday, July 16, 7:12 PM
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea is to blame for last month’s cyberattacks on the websites of South Korean media companies and the president and prime minister’s offices, a South Korean investigation concluded Tuesday.
South Korea’s ministry of science said it was blaming North Korea based on analysis of codes, Internet addresses and personal computers used to launch the attacks. The attacks occurred June 25, the 63rd anniversary of the beginning of the Korean War.
It is the latest of several cyberattacks in recent years that Seoul blames on North Korea. Pyongyang has denied previous claims and has accused the U.S. and South Korea of a cyberattack in March that shut down its own websites for two days.
The South Korean government-led team of investigators said the online assaults were planned for several months, and the attackers hacked file-sharing websites in South Korea to find security weaknesses.
An investigator told reporters that the attackers tried to steal personal information from the websites targeted in the June 25 cyberattacks, but it was not clear when the attempt took place. Local media reported that the personal information of millions of people was stolen from the presidential office’s website and the ruling party.
Investigators managed to recover data on the hard drives that the attackers destroyed June 25 and found an Internet protocol address that was used by North Korea. They also found that the codes used in the June attacks had the same features as the codes used in the larger March 20 cyberattacks that shut down tens of thousands of computers at South Korean broadcasters and banks.
The attackers in June tried to hide their identities by destroying hard drives and disguising the Internet protocol addresses they used, the ministry said. The attackers also tried to misguide investigators by using the picture of the Anonymous group, the ministry said.
Local media reported in June that the attack was done by a global hacking collective called Anonymous. But a South Korean government official told the Associated Press at the time that the attackers could not be confirmed at the moment.
The ministry said the June 25 attacks hit 69 government and private companies’ websites and servers.
Earlier this month, cybersecurity firms said the hackers behind the March attacks also have been trying to steal South Korean and U.S. military secrets with a malicious set of codes they’ve been sending through the Internet for years. They did not specifically blame North Korea.
Researchers at Santa Clara, California-based McAfee Labs said the malware was designed to find and upload information referring to U.S. forces in South Korea, joint exercises or even the word “secret.”
McAfee said versions of the malware have infected many websites in an ongoing attack that it calls Operation Troy because the code is peppered with references to the ancient city. McAfee said that in 2009, malware was implanted into a social media website used by military personnel in South Korea.
[Hacking][Cyberespionage]
Kremlin returns to typewriters to avoid computer leaks
The Kremlin is returning to typewriters in an attempt to avoid damaging leaks from computer hardware, it has been claimed.
By Chris Irvine, Tom Parfitt in Moscow and agencies
2:19PM BST 11 Jul 2013
A source at Russia's Federal Guard Service (FSO), which is in charge of safeguarding Kremlin communications and protecting President Vladimir Putin, claimed that the return to typewriters has been prompted by the publication of secret documents by WikiLeaks, the whistle-blowing website, as well as Edward Snowden, the fugitive US intelligence contractor.
[Cyberespionage]
U.S. Government Pays Hundreds Of Dollars To AT&T And Verizon For Every Wiretap
AP | By By ANNE FLAHERTY
Posted: 07/10/2013 4:11 am EDT
FOLLOW:
AP, Government Surveillance, Government Wiretap, Price Of Surveillance, Price Of Wiretap,wiretapping, Wiretapping Price, Technology News
WASHINGTON (AP) — How much are your private conversations worth to the U.S. government? Turns out, it can be a lot, depending on the technology.
In the era of intense government surveillance and secret court orders, a murky multimillion-dollar market has emerged. Paid for by U.S. tax dollars, but with little public scrutiny, surveillance fees charged in secret by technology and phone companies can vary wildly.
AT&T, for example, imposes a $325 "activation fee" for each wiretap and $10 a day to maintain it. Smaller carriers Cricket and U.S. Cellular charge only about $250 per wiretap. But snoop on a Verizon customer? That costs the government $775 for the first month and $500 each month after that, according to industry disclosures made last year to Congressman Edward Markey.
[Surveillance]
How cryptography is a key weapon in the fight against empire states
What began as a means of retaining individual freedom can now be used by smaller states to fend off the ambitions of larger ones
Julian Assange
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 9 July 2013 12.45 BST
The original cypherpunks were mostly Californian libertarians. I was from a different tradition but we all sought to protect individual freedom from state tyranny. Cryptography was our secret weapon. It has been forgotten how subversive this was. Cryptography was then the exclusive property of states, for use in their various wars. By writing our own software and disseminating it far and wide we liberated cryptography, democratised it and spread it through the frontiers of the new internet.
The resulting crackdown, under various "arms trafficking" laws, failed. Cryptography became standardised in web browsers and other software that people now use on a daily basis. Strong cryptography is a vital tool in fighting state oppression. That is the message in my book, Cypherpunks. But the movement for the universal availability of strong cryptography must be made to do more than this. Our future does not lie in the liberty of individuals alone.
[Surveillance] [Stuxnet]
Chinese airlines to provide Web service
China Daily, July 4, 2013
Passengers on Chinese airlines will be able to access the Internet in the near future, industry insiders forecast, after the first Chinese flight offering Web service landed in Chengdu, Sichuan province, on Wednesday afternoon.
"By the end of next year, most of our wide-body passenger jets will have been refitted and equipped with access to the Internet, and a lot of our passengers will be able to enjoy this service after the refit," Fan Cheng, a senior Air China executive, said on board an Air China flight from Beijing to Chengdu.
100,000 IDs Leaked After Hacking Attack on Presidential Office
The personal information of around 100,000 people was leaked following a hacking attack on the Cheong Wa Dae website last Tuesday. The presidential office on Sunday said the leaked information involves around half of the 200,000 people who signed up to access the Cheong Wa Dae website and includes their names, birthdates, IDs and IP addresses.
[Hacking]
Justice Dept. targets general in leak probe
Alex Brandon/AP - In this April 21, 2011, file photo Joint Chiefs Vice Chairman Gen. James Cartwright with Defense Secretary Robert Gates, left, talks to media representatives during a media availability at the Pentagon.
By Greg Miller and Sari Horwitz
A retired four-star Marine Corps general who served as the nation’s second-ranking military officer is a target of a Justice Department investigation into a leak of information about a covert U.S.-Israeli cyberattack on Iran’s nuclear program, a senior Obama administration official said.
Retired Gen. James E. “Hoss” Cartwright served as deputy chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and was part of President Obama’s inner circle on a range of critical national security issues before he retired in 2011.
The administration official said that Cartwright is suspected of revealing information about a highly classified effort to use a computer virus later dubbed Stuxnet to sabotage equipment in Iranian nuclear enrichment plants.
Stuxnet was part of a broader cyber campaign called Olympic Games that was disclosed by the New York Times last year as one of the first major efforts by the United States to use computer code as a destructive weapon against a key adversary.
[Stuxnet]
Hacker group Anonymous is no match for North Korea
By Max Fisher, Published: June 27, 2013 at 11:44
Anonymous, the informal hacker collective that often targets groups or countries it sees as enemies of Internet freedom, has gone after everyone from MasterCard to the Vatican. But the group seems little match for the hermit kingdom: after two attempts, most recently on Tuesday and Wednesday, Anonymous appears to have largely failed to infiltrate North Korea’s systems.
The latest attack was planned to coincide with the anniversary of the Korean War, on Tuesday. Anonymous said its goals were to obtain North Korean documents on the country’s weapons and government officials; to connect North Korea’s highly regulated intranet to the wider Internet, thus allowing North Korean citizens to finally connect to the outside world. Anonymous even said it would access nuclear weapons sites.
[Hacking]
Anonymous Tries to Hack North Korea, Accidentally Hacks Itself and Blasts a Bunch of Unrelated Sites
June 26, 2013
at 9:30 am
by C. Custer
I guess this is what they call collateral damage. After hacker collective Anonymous’s long-awaited June 25 hack attack on North Korea, North Korea Tech has been busy picking up the pieces, and things look ugly. The full post is really worth a read, but here’s a short summary of what apparently happened:
Things started off on a particularly bad note when Anonymous accidentally hacked itself, apparently as the result of a misunderstanding about the nature of one of Anonymous Korea’s websites:
“
WTF 503 Service Unavailable : http://t.co/f3fnKoU9sR
— Anonymous (@Anonsj) June 24, 2013
Then, as the attack commenced and North Korean websites started going down, it turned out someone had hacked Blue House, the website of South Korea’s president. An Anonymous Korea member claims Anonymous didn’t do that, but of course since the collective really is anonymous, there’s no way to be sure.
[Hacking]
Hackers attack North, South Korean websites
The previously announced June 25 attack on North Korean websites by hackers working under the “Anonymous” name took an unexpected turn on Tuesday when several South Korean sites were hit with attacks. The actions coincided with the release of what hackers said were stolen files on American military personnel.
The North Korean attack did start as scheduled and appears to have been initially successful. Most major North Korean websites are either inaccessible or difficult to access, indicating they are being hit by a denial of service attack. This involves overwhelming a web server with requests so it gets tied up and bonafide traffic doesn’t get through.
[Hacking]
Ex-US general under investigation for leaks
Reports say former second-highest-ranking general at Pentagon is probed for leaks linked to Iran nuclear programme.
General James Cartright allegedly exposed information regarding a cyber attack on Iran's nuclear programme [EPA]
One of the highest ranking military officers in the US is under investigation for allegedly leaking top secret information about a cyber attack on Iran's nuclear programme, according to reports.
NBC news channel reported on Thursday that retired General James Cartwright, a former second-highest-ranking officer, is under investigation for leaking information on a covert computer virus, called Stuxnet.
The virus was used in 2010 to temporarily disable 1,000 centrifuges used for enriching uranium by Iran's nuclear facilities.
Cartright, who was the number two person in the joint chiefs of staff from 2007 to 2011, was instrumental in the development of Stuxnet, and his role was publicised in a New York Times article published last year.
The article exposed that the virus was the Obama administration's key weapon against Iran's nuclear weapons programme.
President Obama responded to the article sternly: "My attitude has been zero tolerance for these kinds of leaks. These are criminal acts when they release information like this."
Al Jazeera's Rosiland Jordan, reporting from Washington DC, said that there was ongoing speculation about Cartwright's motive behind the leaks.
[Stuxnet]
Websites in Both Koreas Down Amid Hacker Attacks
Websites in both Koreas were inaccessible for several hours Tuesday amid fears of hacker attacks to coincide with the anniversary of the Korean War, the Cheong Wa Dae website among them.
In North Korea as of 5 p.m. Tuesday, it was still impossible to access the websites of the KCNA news agency, the Rodong Sinmun, Naenara, Air Koryo, and Uriminzokkiri, which the hacker collective Anonymous had threatened to attack.
They had been up until around 10:00 a.m. Then a message from the alleged Anonymous twitter account @Anonsj said "Tango Down" to report a successful attack.
[Hacking]
Hackers Poised for Biggest Attack on N.Korean Websites
International hackers' collective Anonymous are poised for a massive cyber attack on North Korea to mark the 60th anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War. The "hacktivists" threatened in April to attack 46 North Korean websites including the official KCNA news agency at 12 noon on Tuesday.
Anonymous in similar previous attacks temporarily paralyzed websites and retrieved data from them.
In a recent video clip on YouTube, they claimed to have extracted missile blueprints from the intranet of the North Korean military and other information.
Last Friday, KCNA denounced the hackers as a "ragtag band" under the control of U.S. and South Korean intelligence agencies. It claimed the intranet which Anonymous claim to have infiltrated "does not even ex ist."
[Hacking] [NGO]
Cheong Wa Dae hacked
By Nam Hyun-woo
The website of Cheong Wa Dae was shut down Tuesday due to an unidentified cyber attack.
Authorities couldn’t confirm who the attackers were but didn’t rule out North Korea.
At 9:30 a.m., the presidential homepage was hacked by people claiming to be “Anonymous.” The online activist group later denied any involvement.
The website was saturated with messages lauding North Korean leader Kim Jong-un; one of which read, “Hacked by Anonymous, Hail the great unification President Kim Jong-un. We are Anonymous. We are legion. We do not forgive. We do not forget. Expect us.”
[Hacking]
Hackers Poised for Biggest Attack on N.Korean Websites
International hackers' collective Anonymous are poised for a massive cyber attack on North Korea to mark the 60th anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War. The "hacktivists" threatened in April to attack 46 North Korean websites including the official KCNA news agency at 12 noon on Tuesday.
Anonymous in similar previous attacks temporarily paralyzed websites and retrieved data from them.
In a recent video clip on YouTube, they claimed to have extracted missile blueprints from the intranet of the North Korean military and other information.
Last Friday, KCNA denounced the hackers as a "ragtag band" under the control of U.S. and South Korean intelligence agencies. It claimed the intranet which Anonymous claim to have infiltrated "does not even exist."
[Hacking] [NGO]
Hackers 'Access Top Secret N.Korean Missile Technology'
International hackers' collective Anonymous claims it has managed to access top-secret North Korean missile technology and vows to reveal the information on the internet. The "hacktivists" previously attacked pro-North Korean sites and released the personal information of subscribers.
In a statement on Youtube on Tuesday, Anonymous claimed to have infiltrated North Korea's intranet and said that a "teardown" of missile documentation and military documents "is in progress."
When it hacked the North Korean propaganda website Uriminzokkiri in April, Anonymous vowed to launch a major cyber attack on the North on June 25, the anniversary of the start of the 1950-53 Korean War. It listed 31 websites as targets including the State Security Department and military intranet.
[Hacking] [NGO]
Firefox Web browser to move ahead plan to block tracking
By Craig Timberg, Updated: Thursday, June 20, 12:45 PM E-mail the writer
The maker of the popular Firefox browser is moving ahead with plans to block the most common forms of Internet tracking, allowing hundreds of millions of users to eventually limit who watches their movements across the Web, company officials said Wednesday.
Firefox’s developers made the decision despite intense resistance from advertising groups, which have argued that tracking is essential to delivering well-targeted, lucrative ads that pay for many popular Internet services.
Widespread release of the blocking technology remains months away. But officials at Mozilla, the nonprofit group that makes Firefox, spoke confidently Wednesday about the growing sophistication of tools they are building to limit the placement of “cookies” in users’ browsers.
[Surveillance]
US agencies said to swap data with firms
China.org.cn, June 16, 2013
According to Bloomberg news, thousands of American firms of science and technology, finance and manufacturing are exchanging confidential information with U.S. national security agencies. In return for sensitive information, the American government is letting these firms access classified data.
These programs are far beyond what Edward Snowden revealed. Earlier last week, The Guardian revealed that the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) is collecting millions of U.S. residents’ telephone records and the computer communications from IT giants including Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, Facebook, PalTalk, YouTube, Skype, AOL and Apple. These companies cover the vast majority of online email, search, video and communications networks.
[Surveillance]
U.S. surveillance architecture includes collection of revealing Internet, phone metadata
By Barton Gellman,
Sunday, June 16, 12:59 PM E-mail the writer
On March 12, 2004, acting attorney general James B. Comey and the Justice Department’s top leadership reached the brink of resignation over electronic surveillance orders that they believed to be illegal.
President George W. Bush backed down, halting secret foreign-
intelligence-gathering operations that had crossed into domestic terrain. That morning marked the beginning of the end of STELLARWIND, the cover name for a set of four surveillance programs that brought Americans and American territory within the domain of the National Security Agency for the first time in decades. It was also a prelude to new legal structures that allowed Bush and then President Obama to reproduce each of those programs and expand their reach.
[Surveillance]
Inside the NSA's Ultra-Secret China Hacking Group
Deep within the National Security Agency, an elite, rarely discussed team of hackers and spies is targeting America's enemies abroad.
BY MATTHEW M. AID | JUNE 10, 2013
This weekend, U.S. President Barack Obama sat down for a series of meetings with China's newly appointed leader, Xi Jinping. We know that the two leaders spoke at length about the topic du jour -- cyber-espionage -- a subject that has long frustrated officials in Washington and is now front and center with the revelations of sweeping U.S. data mining. The media has focused at length on China's aggressive attempts to electronically steal U.S. military and commercial secrets, but Xi pushed back at the "shirt-sleeves" summit, noting that China, too, was the recipient of cyber-espionage. But what Obama probably neglected to mention is that he has his own hacker army, and it has burrowed its way deep, deep into China's networks.
[Hacking] [China confrontation]
U.S. disrupts al-Qaeda’s online magazine
By Ellen Nakashima,
Wednesday, June 12, 3:15 AM
U.S. intelligence operatives covertly sabotaged a prominent al-Qaeda online magazine last month in an apparent attempt to sow confusion among the group’s followers, according to officials.
The operation succeeded, at least temporarily, in thwarting publication of the latest issue of Inspire, the English-language magazine distributed by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. When it appeared online, the text on the second page was garbled and the following 20 pages were blank. The sabotaged version was quickly removed from the online forum that hosted it, according to independent analysts who track jihadi Web sites.
It’s unclear how the hacking occurred, although U.S. intelligence agencies, including the National Security Agency and the CIA, have invested heavily in cyber-capabilities in recent years. Security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the recent operation was only the latest U.S. attempt to disrupt al-Qaeda’s online propaganda.
[Cyberwar] [Hacking] [Incompetence]
Threats to Cyberspace and Responses
by Senior Colonel Fan Gaoyue ??:?????
13 June 2013 / 13 ?6 ? 2013
For the original Chinese-language version, please go here. In this Special Report Senior Colonel (Retired) Fan Gaoyue argues that the internet and cyberspace in broad terms have an openness and ability to transcend geopolitical borders that makes it vulnerable. Therefore there are several practical measures for international cooperation that can promote cyberspace security.
[Cyberwar]
Edward Snowden says US hacks China
By He Shan
China.org.cn, June 13, 2013
Edward Snowden, the 29-year-old former CIA engineer currently said to be hiding out in Hong Kong, has claimed that the U.S. National Security Agency has been hacking computer and telecommunications networks in China since 2009, lifting the lid on the U.S. longtime cyber operations in China and putting the U.S. in an embarrassing position.
Edward Snowden, a 29-year-old American intelligence contractor, has revealed himself as the source who disclosed the U.S. government's secret phone and Internet surveillance programs.
Edward Snowden, a 29-year-old American intelligence contractor, has revealed himself as the source who disclosed the U.S. government's secret phone and Internet surveillance programs.
Snowden, the man who gave out top-secret documents to British newspaper The Guardian, told Hong Kong's South China Morning Post in an interview that one of the surveillance targets included Hong Kong's Chinese University and public officials, businesses and students.
The Hong Kong newspaper reported that according to a number of confidential sources, a highly secretive unit of NSA, called the Office of Tailored Access Operations, or TAO, has successfully been penetrating Chinese computer systems for almost 15 years, generating some of the best and most reliable intelligence information about what is going on inside China.
[Hacking]
Beijing: Edward Snowden's NSA revelations strain China-US relations
State-run China Daily points to countries' 'soured relationship' on cybersecurity and suggests huge surveillance net is unjustified
Warren Murray
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 13 June 2013 07.49 BST
China has warned that revelations of electronic surveillance on a huge scale by American intelligence agencies will "test developing Sino-US ties" and exacerbate their "soured relationship" on cybersecurity.
The assessment in an article and editorial carried by the state-run China Daily represents the first official comment in state media as China grapples with the presence in Hong Kong of Edward Snowden, the US analyst who revealed himself as the source of the Guardian exposé.
Quoting analysts, the China Daily article said the "massive US global surveillance programme … is certain to stain Washington's overseas image" and pointedly referred to Washington recently levelling claims of hacking at other governments, including China's
[Hacking]
Did U.S. Cyberattacks On Iran Backfire On American Banks?
Michael Joseph Gross raises some fascinating, and disturbing, questions in “Silent War,” in the July issue of Vanity Fair.
Apparently drawing on extensive contacts in the rarified world of extremely talented hackers, and finding some corroboration from government and ex-government types, Gross recounts a consumer attack on ARAMCO that did a full wipe of the hard drives on 30,000 company PCs.
“For good measure, as a kind of calling card, the hackers lit up the screen of each machine they wiped with a single image, of an American flag on fire.” A hacker told Gross the attack wasn’t sophisticated, but it was effective — it overwrote the memory on each computer five or six times.
At least U.S. officials think Iran is attacking American interests in retaliation for the cyberattacks the U.S., Israel and perhaps other Western countries are waging against Iran’s nuclear program — in particular the Stuxnet attack. Gross cites David E. Sanger of the New York Times for his reporting on Stuxnet and his book, “Confront and Conceal,” which has prompted one of the Obama administration’s FBI probes into leaks.
[Cyberwar] [Stuxnet] [Response] [Unintended consequences]
Silent War
On the hidden battlefields of history’s first known cyber-war, the casualties are piling up. In the U.S., many banks have been hit, and the telecommunications industry seriously damaged, likely in retaliation for several major attacks on Iran. Washington and Tehran are ramping up their cyber-arsenals, built on a black-market digital arms bazaar, enmeshing such high-tech giants as Microsoft, Google, and Apple. With the help of highly placed government and private-sector sources, Michael Joseph Gross describes the outbreak of the conflict, its escalation, and its startling paradox: that America’s bid to stop nuclear proliferation may have unleashed a greater threat.
[Cyberwar] [Stuxnet] [Response] [Unintended consequences]
N.Korean State TV Starts Live Stream on Facebook
North Korea's state-run Korean Central News Agency has begun streaming its programs live via Facebook since late last year, it emerged on Thursday. Most of the content has centered on propaganda pictures and videos praising its leader, Kim Jong-un.
All the postings are in English. The first one, uploaded on Nov. 23, was a doctored picture mixed with the North Korean flag. On March 11, an announcement was posted that a live stream of North Korean state TV on has started on Facebook.
On Thursday, the popular social networking site attracted a flood of online users, with many apparently simply intrigued by a look inside the reclusive state.
However, the page was blocked in South Korea later that evening. The National Police Agency said the national security law forbids citizens from viewing North Korean propaganda.
China has 'mountains of data' about U.S. cyber attacks: official
BEIJING | Wed Jun 5, 2013 12:24am EDT
(Reuters) - China's top Internet security official says he has "mountains of data" pointing to extensive U.S. hacking aimed at China, but it would be irresponsible to blame Washington for such attacks, and called for greater cooperation to fight hacking.
Cyber security is a major concern for the U.S. government and is expected to be at the top of the agenda when President Barack Obama meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping in California on Thursday and Friday.
Obama will tell Xi that Washington considers Beijing responsible for any cyber attacks launched from Chinese soil and must take action to curb high-tech spying, White House officials said on Tuesday.
China's Internet security chief complained that Washington used the news media to raise cyber security concerns which would be better settled through communication, not confrontation.
"We have mountains of data, if we wanted to accuse the U.S., but it's not helpful in solving the problem," said Huang Chengqing, director of the National Computer Network Emergency Response Technical Team/Coordination Center of China, known as CNCERT.
"They advocated cases that they never let us know about," Huang said in comments on Tuesday and carried by the government-run China Daily newspaper on Wednesday.
"Some cases can be addressed if they had talked to us, why not let us know? It is not a constructive train of thought to solve problems."
CNCERT has instead co-operated with the United States, receiving 32 Internet security cases from the United States in the first four months of 2013, and handling most promptly, except for a few that lacked sufficient proof, Huang said.
[Hacking] [US China]
How the U.S. Government Hacks the World
By Michael Riley
May 23, 2013
Obscured by trees and grassy berms, the campus of the National Security Agency sits 15 miles north of Washington’s traffic-clogged Beltway, its 6 million square feet of blast-resistant buildings punctuated by clusters of satellite dishes. Created in 1952 to intercept radio and other electronic transmissions—known as signals intelligence—the NSA now focuses much of its espionage resources on stealing what spies euphemistically call “electronic data at rest.” These are the secrets that lay inside the computer networks and hard drives of terrorists, rogue nations, and even nominally friendly governments. When President Obama receives his daily intelligence briefing, most of the information comes from government cyberspies, says Mike McConnell, director of national intelligence under President George W. Bush. “It’s at least 75 percent, and going up,” he says.
[Cyberespionage]
Confidential report lists U.S. weapons system designs compromised by Chinese cyberspies
By Ellen Nakashima,
Published: May 28 E-mail the writer
Designs for many of the nation’s most sensitive advanced weapons systems have been compromised by Chinese hackers, according to a report prepared for the Pentagon and to officials from government and the defense industry.
Among more than two dozen major weapons systems whose designs were breached were programs critical to U.S. missile defenses and combat aircraft and ships, according to a previously undisclosed section of a confidential report prepared for Pentagon leaders by the Defense Science Board.
The systems named in a report by the Defense Science Board includes some critical to U.S. missile defense.
.
Experts warn that the electronic intrusions gave China access to advanced technology that could accelerate the development of its weapons systems and weaken the U.S. military advantage in a future conflict.
The Defense Science Board, a senior advisory group made up of government and civilian experts, did not accuse the Chinese of stealing the designs. But senior military and industry officials with knowledge of the breaches said the vast majority were part of a widening Chinese campaign of espionage against U.S. defense contractors and government agencies.
[Cyberespionage] [China confrontation]
A list of the U.S. weapons designs and technologies compromised by hackers
The following is reproduced from the nonpublic version of the
Defense Science Board report “Resilient Military Systems and the Advanced Cyber Threat”:
Table 2.2 Expanded partial list of DoD system designs and technologies compromised via cyber exploitation
[Cyberespionage] [China confrontation]
Hacker Collective Warns of More Attacks on N.Korean Sites
International hackers' collective Anonymous again broke into North Korean propaganda websites on Sunday. The "hacktivists" had previously attacked pro-North Korean sites and released the personal information of subscribers.
Anonymous also threatened to launch massive cyber attacks on the anniversary of the Korean War armistice.
Anonymous tweeted that it hacked the website of North Korean radio station Voice of Korea together with links to the damage done.
It also tweeted blow-by-blow updates of its attacks of the official KCNA news agency and propaganda website Uriminzokkiri.
The attack stopped in the early afternoon. "This Attack is very small operation," the collective tweeted. "It will be very huge op on 6/25," the anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War.
The hackers warned of additional attacks in June, listing 31 North Korean websites that are to become targets including the State Security Department and military's intranet.
[Hacking] [Naiveté]
China isn’t wrong to call the US “the real hacking empire”
By Lily Kuo @lilkuo May 8, 2013
The cyberwar between China and the US has spread from computers into the halls of diplomacy. In a report this week, the Pentagon said for the first time that the Chinese government and military have been launching cyber attacks against the US. Today, Chinese state media called the US “the real hacking empire” and said the country has “an extensive espionage network.”
There’s a nugget of truth in China’s rebuttal. The US has some of the most powerful cyber warfare resources in the world and has long been one of the leading sources of cyber attacks on companies and people. According to cyber security firm McAfee, the US is home to the largest number of botnets in the world, the control servers used to hack computers in the US and elsewhere. Data from Deutsche Telekom shows that far more attacks against its networks come from Russia and the US than China. And according to HostExploit, which tracks malware activity, the US and Russia, not China, have the world’s most malicious servers.
In some ways, Beijing is right to argue that China is also a victim, wrote Jason Healy, director of Cyber Statecraft at the Atlantic Council, last month. Between September 2012 and March of this year, 85 Chinese government and company websites were hacked, with 39 of the attacks originating in the US, according to Chinese state media. Chinese authorities also said that US-based servers had hosted 73% of phishing attacks on Chinese residents during roughly the same period.
[Cyberwar] [Hacking]
The animation, the best kept secret in North Korea
Margarita Rodriguez
BBC World Service
They are tender, playful, colorful and come from a country isolated, belligerent and nuclear
ambitions. Do not be surprised that any cartoon you see on your screen is a creation of Pyongyang.
Thanks to the business of outsourcing in North Korea, with the low costs and government support
to the sector of the animation, the Asian nation has rubbed shoulders with the best in the industry
almost in secret, because the end user is often unaware of the origin of product.
[Animation]
N.Koreans 'Tried to Get Confidential Google Software'
Eric Schmidt
Google's chief Eric Schmidt, who visited North Korea in January this year, said North Korean officials tried to get classified software technology from him.
Speaking at a seminar in Washington on Saturday, Schmidt said North Korean officials persistently prodded him to reveal details of the next version of Google's Android OS for smartphones, but he declined.
Schmidt admitted increased Internet access would not translate into better living conditions for North Koreans. "But their governments are not like our governments... In that context, (autocratic) governments are going to work really, really hard to stop this, because the way to really get a dictator going is to threaten his authority."
In an interview with MSNBC last week, Schmidt said North Korea is the "weirdest place ever." He said ordinary North Koreans are denied Internet access, which is available to the government, and while a million mobile phones are in use there, Internet connections are not available.
Nearly 2 million N. Koreans subscribe to 3G mobile service
Nearly 2 million North Koreans have signed up for third-generation (3G) mobile service, a U.S.-based North Korean news Web site reported Saturday.
North Korea Tech said Koryolink, the country's only 3G service provider, has almost reached 2 million subscribers. Ezz Heikal, the CEO of the company, disclosed the figure in Pyongyang earlier this week and the company's head office in Cairo, Egypt, later confirmed the number, according to the Web site.
Koryolink, a joint venture between Orascom Telecom of Egypt and the North Korean ministry of posts and telecommunications, launched the service in December 2008. The number of cellular subscribers has skyrocketed from 100,000 in September 2009 to 1 million in February last year, and then to 1.5 million in November 2012, North Korea Tech said.
North Korea has a population of roughly 24 million.
The service is said to be available in Pyongyang and 15 other major cities, along with some 100 smaller cities.
Since Jan. 7 of this year, North Korea has allowed foreign tourists to enter the country with cell phones. Koryolink originally offered these short-term visitors 3G mobile voice and data services but the service was then scaled back to only offer voice.
Koryolink is reportedly offering mobile Internet service to foreign diplomats and other long-term visitors.
[Mobile]
U.S. response to bank cyberattacks reflects diplomatic caution, vexes bank industry
By Ellen Nakashima,
The United States, concerned that Iran is behind a string of cyberattacks against U.S. banking sites, has considered delivering a formal warning through diplomatic channels but has not pursued the idea out of fears that doing so could escalate hostilities, according to American officials.
At the same time, the officials said, the disruptive activity against the Web sites has not yet reached a level of harm that would justify a retaliatory strike.
The internal discussion reflects the complex nature of deciding when and how the United States should respond to hostile cyber-actions from other countries. It also reflects the pressure the administration is under from banking industry officials, who want to know what amount of pain or damage will justify a government response.
“We don’t have a clear view of what are the triggers — and we’ve asked,” said one industry official who has been involved in discussions with the administration and who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “They’ve just been very coy about it.”
Administration officials say it is difficult and unwise to be too precise about potential responses because they do not want to set red lines that, if crossed, might obligate them to act.
[Hacking] [Iran] [Unintended consequences]
NK accuses S. Korea of having hands behind cyber attacks by 'Anonymous' hackers
North Korea accused South Korea on Saturday of having hands behind cyber attacks on its propaganda Web sites by an international hacking group, denouncing the attacks as part of an organized smear campaign against the communist nation.
The Anonymous hacktivist group has conducted a series of attacks on several North Korean-run Web sites, including Uriminzokkiri, and stole lists of tens of thousands of their subscribers and made them public. The latest attacks came last week on the 101st birthday of the communist regime's founder Kim Il-sung.
"This is intolerable as it is a wanton violation of the DPRK's legitimate internet activities recognized by international law," the North's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea said in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.
"Matter is that the Intelligence Service and other forces of South Korea have their tentacles stretched deep into such provocative acts against the DPRK," it said. DPRK stands for North Korea's official name, Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
South Korean authorities have launched an investigation to see if those who registered with the North's propaganda sites violated related domestic laws. No South Koreans can contact North korea or its people without prior government approval.
The South's "puppet regime is kicking up the whirlwind of wholesale suppression of progressive organizations and figures on the list, branding them as 'North's spies' and "those following the North.' This proves that the puppet regime is the very one behind the cyber attacks," it said.
[Hacking] [NSL]
Hackers Attack N.Korean Websites Again
International hackers' collective Anonymous has broken into North Korean propaganda website Uriminzokkiri again and released the personal information of about 100 more subscribers on Tuesday. The hackers earlier released the personal information of thousands of subscribers to the website.
The group said it had hacked five North Korean propaganda websites on nation founder Kim Il-sung's 101st birthday Monday. Others are minjok.com, jajusasang.com and paekdu-hanna.com.
The information disclosed this time includes subscribers' self-written profiles. The last batch contained only names and e-mail addresses, and many ostensible subscribers claimed their personal information had been stolen.
"If anybody subscribes to a pro-Communist group and posts an article in praise of North Korea, they may have acted to benefit the enemy," a spokesman for the National Police Agency said. "They have to be charged with violating the National Security Law."
[Hacking] [NSL]
North Korea denies role in recent hacking case in S. Korea
North Korea has denied its alleged involvement in a March cyber attack in South Korea, claiming related "rumors" are aimed at deepening tensions on the peninsula, Yonhap news said Saturday.
Reports that North Korea is behind the March 20 hacking incident that crippled networks of some South Korean banks and broadcasters are a "deliberate provocation," a spokesperson for the General Staff of the (North) Korean People's Army (KPA) was quoted as saying by Pyongyang's propaganda media on Friday.
The unnamed official argued the accusations are similar to those that a North Korean submarine torpedoed a South Korean warship, the Cheonan, in 2010.
[Hacking] [Coverup] [Cheonan]
Evidence in Hacker Attack Points to N.Korea
An official investigation has concluded that North Korea was behind a massive cyber attack that paralyzed the computer networks of broadcasters and banks on March 20.
A team of investigators made up of military, government and civilian experts announced the conclusion on Wednesday.
It also blamed North Korean hackers for the erasure of data from anti-North Korean, conservative websites and for Internet connection problem on the website of an affiliate of YTN on March 26.
An official briefs reporters at the government complex in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province on Wednesday. /News 1 An official briefs reporters at the government complex in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province on Wednesday. /News 1
The investigators detected North Korean IP addresses in the process of tracing the route of the cyber attack. They said hackers have spread malware code to the networks of the broadcasters and banks at least 1,590 times using six or more PCs with North Korean IP addresses since June 28 last year.
Seoul suspects that the North's Reconnaissance General Bureau took the initiative in the latest attack.
[Cyberwar] [Hacking] [Evidence]
North Korea fingered as culprit behind Mar. 20 cyber attacks
Posted on : Apr.11,2013 15:57 KST
Jeon Gil-su, chief of the Internet Incidents Response Division at the Korea Internet Security Agency, announces the findings of an investigation into the cause of the Mar. 20 cyberattacks on South Korean broadcasters and financial institutions, Apr. 10. (News1)
Police and other investigative sources say it is still too early to conclusively say N. Korea carried out the disturbances
By Lee Soon-hyun and Park Hyun-chul, staff reporters
The South Korean government announced that its investigation into the Mar. 20 simultaneous cyberattacks on broadcasters and financial organizations has revealed that the North Korean General Bureau of Reconnaissance (GBR) was behind the disturbances.
The joint government and civilian cyber attack response team held a briefing at the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, on Apr. 10. “The cyber attack on the broadcasters and financial institutions that took place on Mar. 20 had been in the works for at least eight months,” the team said. Among the broadcasters were KBS, MBC and YTN and Jeju, Shinhan and Nonghyup were among the banks. “It shows the same hacking techniques used by GBR in several attempts it has made to hack South Korean networks.”
Starting in Jun. 2012, six PCs in North Korea were used to access the networks of financial institutions and upload a virus, the joint response team said. It also reported that of the 49 domestic and international routes used in the attack, 22 had internet addresses that matched those used by North Korea in hacking activity since 2009.
However, there is some uncertainty about the grounds for fingering North Korea as the culprit and about which organization was behind the announcement.
“This presentation was led by the National Intelligence Service (NIS),” said one government official. “All of the material that was used in the press briefing was prepared by the NIS.”
Furthermore, the cyber terror response center operated by the police, which is trying to determine who the culprit is, did not take part in the presentation.
“The police investigation is being conducted separately from the investigation by the joint response team,” said an officer with the National Police Agency. “We are not yet able to say with certainty where the hacking originated.”
[Hacking] [Evidence]
N.Korea 'Confident' in Cyber Warfare Capabilities
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in February expressed confidence in the regime's cyber warfare capabilities against South Korea. A South Korean official on Sunday quoted Kim as saying at the time, "If we have strong information technology and brave warriors like the Reconnaissance General Bureau, we will be able to break any sanctions and have no problem building a strong and prosperous country."
[Cyberwar] [Media]
Millions of S.Korean IDs Leaked to N.Korea
The Seoul Central Prosecutors' Office on Sunday charged two South Koreans with cooperating with North Korean hackers in China to run illegal websites and steal the personal information of millions of individuals.
Investigators discovered the personal data of 140 million South Koreans on their computers and believe they could have shared the information with North Korea.
[Hysteria] [Media]
Anonymous may trigger internal feud
By Kim Jae-won
The leaders of Anonymous Korea remain unknown but the hacking group has triggered fierce debate over its recent revelation of a list of members of a pro-North Korean website, which includes South Koreans.
Conservatives are lauding the hackers’ group for releasing the names of whom they call pro-North Korean sympathizers who subscribe to Uriminzokkiri.
This is feared to lead to a confrontation between forces of different ideologies in the South, at a time Pyongyang is threatening to attack the South and the United States with nuclear weapons.
In contrast, some Internet users criticized Anonymous, saying such an action would worsen an already broken relationship between South and North Korea.
“Don’t do any kind of cyber attack on North Korea, Anonymous! It will make the situation worse,” said Sean Yoon, a graphic designer based in Los Angeles, through Twitter.
Lying beneath the worry about further North-to-South confrontation is whether not just the alleged North Korean sympathizers Anonymous listed but also the group itself should be investigated.
The group Saturday posted a second list of alleged members of the North Korean propaganda website.
Prosecutors are now investigating South Koreans who are on the lists.
Although it is not clear whether it is trying to throw investigators off track, Anonymous asked that the South Koreans it listed not be punished under the National Security Law.
[NSL] [Naiveté]
NK launches another hacking attack
After repeated hacking of South Korean websites along with others, an international hacker organization has reportedly said websites of the North Korean government has been violated, NBC reported April 3.
The international organization Anonymous posted on the website Pastebin that it has been able to extract information about 15,000 subscribers on uriminzokkiri.com which is a website used for promoting North Korean interests against South Korea.
Introducing themselves as Anonymous Korea, the operators said they broke into such sites as www.korea-dpr.com, www.airkoryo.com.kp, www.naenara.com.kp and www.friend.com.kp.
The method in hacking the sites was DDoS which is widely used for getting into various websites for unfriendly reasons.
Business Insider of the United States, which also posted the news of hacking, said the website also called for North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to resign from his post.
[Media] [Heading] [Hacking]
[Note that the article describes hacking of NK sites, not hacking by NK]
Hacker group Anonymous releases names of N. Korea propaganda site members
Posted on : Apr.6,2013 13:25 KST
A wanted poster offering $1 million for capture of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un found on an official North Korean propaganda website that is classified as illegal under South Korea’s National Security Law. Elderly couriers, not gift givers
Police now investigating whether membership on website constituted violation of the controversial National Security Law
By Park Hyun-chul and Kim Jeong-pil, staff reporters
Members of the North Korean propaganda website Uriminzokkiri are up in arms over an internal police investigation to determine the loyalties of people identified on a membership list that was leaked by hackers.
Observers are calling the tactics "McCarthy-esque," noting that the members enrolled when anyone was free to access the site, and that many people did so for research or out of simple curiosity.
[Hacking] [Naiveté] [NSL]
Hackers Bust N.Korean Propaganda Site
International hacker group Anonymous on Thursday broke into Uriminzokkiri, a North Korean website that spreads propaganda from North Korea's official KCNA news agency.
The hacker collective released the personal information of the website's 9,001 subscribers, including their ID and password, name, date of birth and other details.
The South Korean National Intelligence Service said, "Many of the leaked details on the website match those of South Koreans."
Police are taking a keen interest. A National Police Agency spokesman said, "A considerable number of people who want to access information about North Korea are registered on Uriminzokkiri. If they have carried out any pro-North Korean activities such as spreading articles from the site or posting pro-North Korean comments, we will take actions since that violates the National Security Law."
[Hacking] [Unintended consequences] [Naiveté] [NSL]
Hacker Attack Traced to IP Address in S.Korea
The malware that paralyzed the internal computer network at agricultural lender Nonghyup during a massive cyber attack on banks and broadcasters here last Wednesday has been traced to one of its own IP addresses, not a Chinese IP address as originally believed.
But that does not necessarily mean the attack was launched by a South Korean hacker because the Nonghyup IP address is believed to be that of an intermediate router rather than the original source of the cyber-attack.
A combined civilian, government and military team of investigators still believe North Korean hackers were behind the attack via a third country.
[Hacking]
South Korea misidentifies China as cyberattack origin
Sam Kim, Associated Press6:54a.m. EDT March 22, 2013
Error raises questions about S. Korea's ability to track source of attack
The attack hit 32,000 computers at 6 companies on Wednesday
Experts suspect North Korea may be behind the attack
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean investigators said Friday they had mistakenly identified a Chinese Internet address as the source of a cyberattack that paralyzed tens of thousands of computers at banks and broadcasters earlier this week. But they said they still believe the attack originated from abroad.
The error by South Korean regulators raises questions about their ability to track down the source of an attack that hit 32,000 computers at six companies Wednesday and exposed South Korea's Internet security and vulnerability to hackers.
South Korean investigators said Thursday that a malicious code that spread through the server of one target, Nonghyup Bank, was traced to an Internet Protocol address in China. Even then it was clear that the attack could have originated somewhere else, because such data can easily be manipulated by hackers. Experts suspect North Korea was behind the attack.
[Hacking]
Was N.Korea Behind Wednesday's Cyber Attack?
It is unclear who was responsible for a massive cyber attack on major broadcasters and banks in South Korea on Wednesday, but authorities say there is a strong chance that North Korea was behind it.
Government officials here believe no individual hacker could have launched such a major attack, and the modus operandi points to the North. North Korea launched so-called denial of service attacks in 2009 and 2011 aimed at major South Korean websites.
Major North Korean websites including the state-run Rodong Sinmun daily and broadcaster KCNA apparently suffered connection failures on March 13 and 14 after being hit by a hacking attack. A key government official here confirmed that the North was indeed hit by a cyber attack but the source was unknown.
The Rodong Sinmun threatened in an editorial last Friday that the North would not stand by and suffer what it referred to as "dirty" acts.
Wednesday's hacking attack came just five days after North Korea's threat.
[Hacking]
Cyber attack traced to domestic computer
By Kang Seung-woo
The cyber attack against network systems at TV broadcasters and banks originated from a local computer not from an IP address in China, the Korea Communications Commission (KCC) said, Friday.
The broadcasting watchdog had earlier announced the malicious codes came from a Chinese IP address, hinting of North Korea's involvement in the attack.
The attack damaged computer networks at KBS, MBC and YTN along with Shinhan, NongHyup and Jeju banks, Wednesday.
“We had mistaken a private IP address used by NongHyup as an official IP address allocated to China,” the KCC said in a statement, without elaborating on the possible attacker.
Cheong Wa Dae ordered Friday all related government agencies to make preparations for possible hacking attacks, calling
for the expansion of the nation’s cyber warfare forces.
“A joint reaction team is striving to find out who the hackers are by analyzing malicious computer codes and restoring damaged computer systems,” Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Yoon Chang-jung said.
[Hacking]
05
NK dispatched hacking agents overseas early this month
2013-03-23 12:
While even the Seoul authorities announced yesterday that the hacking of broadcasting stations and banks was generated locally from Korea, there have been constant suspicions about North Korean involvement.
Amid such suspicions, Radio Free Asia _ based in t he United States _ cited a North Korean defector from the Kim Il Automation University as saying that he had information that hacking agents were dispatched to China and other overseas locations in the beginning of this month.
N.Korea 'Under Cyber Attack'
North Korea has fallen victim to a massive cyber attack since Wednesday morning, a senior South Korean government official said. He added Seoul is trying to find out who is behind it.
"Internet resources of the country have come under a powerful hacker attack from abroad," Russia's ITAR-TASS news agency, which has a branch in Pyongyang, reported on Wednesday night. The country's websites apparently all went offline until late Thursday afternoon.
They included propaganda outlets like the Rodong Sinmun, the KCNA news agency and Naenara, which are blocked in South Korea.
An expert at a government-funded think tank in Seoul said it is unlikely that an attack on this scale was launched by an individual hacker since all websites with North Korea-based servers were affected and the attack lasted for two days.
The official insisted the South Korean government has nothing to do with it.
"It's inconceivable that the Internet network of the North has been under hacker attack for such a long period of time," said Ryu Dong-ryeol at the Police Science Institute. "It's likely that the regime has staged the incident itself as a way out of its current international impasse."
[Cyberwar] [Spin]
Pentagon creating teams to launch cyberattacks as threat grows
By Ellen Nakashima,
Published: March 13
The Pentagon’s Cyber Command will create 13 offensive teams by the fall of 2015 to help defend the nation against major computer attacks from abroad, Gen. Keith Alexander testified to Congress on Tuesday, a rare acknowledgment of the military’s ability to use cyberweapons.
The new teams are part of a broader government effort to shield the nation from destructive attacks over the Internet that could harm Wall Street or knock out electric power, for instance.
Head of military’s Cyber Command outlines major effort to build offensive and defensive capabilities.
.
But Alexander warned that budget cuts will undermine the effort to build up these forces even as foreign threats to the nation’s critical computer systems intensify. And he urged Congress to pass legislation to enable the private sector to share computer threat data with the government without fear of being sued.
[Cyberwar]
In cyberwarfare, rules of engagement still hard to define
By Ellen Nakashima, Published: March 11
When Gen. Keith Alexander, the head of the Pentagon’s Cyber Command, comes to the Hill on Tuesday, he will probably be asked to describe his plans for building a military force to defend the nation against cyberattacks.
But one question remains unclear: Under what circumstances will these cyberwarriors be used?
President Obama last fall signed a classified directive that requires an “imminent” or ongoing threat of an attack that could result in death or damage to national security before a military cyber-action can be taken to thwart it.
But the definition of “imminent” is, like the definition of an “act of war,” subjective and dependent upon circumstances.
[Cyberwar] [Legality]
Cyberwar - The West Started It
Arjen Kamphuis
Chief Technology Officer of Gendo.ch
Posted: 23/02/2013 11:35
A few years ago, Israeli and American intelligence developed a computer virus with a specific military objective: damaging Iranian nuclear facilities. Stuxnet was spread via USB sticks and settled silently on Windows PCs. From there it looked into networks for specific industrial centrifuges using Siemens SCADA control devices spinning at highspeed to seperate Uranium-235 (the bomb stuff) from Uranium-238 (the non-bomb stuff).
Iran, like many other countries, has a nuclear program for power generation and the production of isotopes for medical applications. Most countries buy the latter from specialists like the Netherlands that produces medical isotopes in a special reactor at ECN. The western boycott of Iran makes it impossible to purchase isotopes on the open market. Making them yourself is far from ideal, but the only option that remains as import blocked.
Why the boycott? Officially, according to the U.S. because Iran does not want to give sufficient openness about its weapons programs. In particular, military applications of nuclear program is an official source of concern. This concern is a fairly recent and for some reason has only been reactivated after the US attack on Iraq (a lot of the original nuclear equipment in Iran was supplied by American and German companies with funding from the World Bank before the 1979 revolution). The most curious of all allegations of Western governments about Iran is that they are never more than vague insinuations. When all 16 U.S. intelligence agencies in 2007 produced a joint study there was a clear conclusion: Iran is not developing a nuclear weapon (recent speech by the leader of this study here).
[Cyberwar] [Stuxnet] [Entitlement]
Cyberwar - The West Started It
Arjen Kamphuis
Chief Technology Officer of Gendo.ch
Posted: 23/02/2013 11:35
A few years ago, Israeli and American intelligence developed a computer virus with a specific military objective: damaging Iranian nuclear facilities. Stuxnet was spread via USB sticks and settled silently on Windows PCs. From there it looked into networks for specific industrial centrifuges using Siemens SCADA control devices spinning at highspeed to seperate Uranium-235 (the bomb stuff) from Uranium-238 (the non-bomb stuff).
Iran, like many other countries, has a nuclear program for power generation and the production of isotopes for medical applications. Most countries buy the latter from specialists like the Netherlands that produces medical isotopes in a special reactor at ECN. The western boycott of Iran makes it impossible to purchase isotopes on the open market. Making them yourself is far from ideal, but the only option that remains as import blocked.
Why the boycott? Officially, according to the U.S. because Iran does not want to give sufficient openness about its weapons programs. In particular, military applications of nuclear program is an official source of concern. This concern is a fairly recent and for some reason has only been reactivated after the US attack on Iraq (a lot of the original nuclear equipment in Iran was supplied by American and German companies with funding from the World Bank before the 1979 revolution). The most curious of all allegations of Western governments about Iran is that they are never more than vague insinuations. When all 16 U.S. intelligence agencies in 2007 produced a joint study there was a clear conclusion: Iran is not developing a nuclear weapon (recent speech by the leader of this study here).
[Cyberwar] [Stuxnet] [Entitlement]
Social media in North Korea: New rules allow AP to share snapshots of daily life in real time
(David Guttenfelder/ Associated Press ) - In this Feb. 16, 2013 photo taken with an iPhone and posted to Instagram on Feb. 16 , 2013, North Korean school boys play with an Associated Press photographer’s professional camera in front of statues of the late leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, on Mansu Hill in Pyongyang, North Korea. On Jan. 18, 2013, foreigners were allowed for the first time to bring mobile phones into North Korea. And this week the local service provider, Koryolink, is allowing foreigners to access the Internet on a data capable 3G connection on mobile phones.
By Associated Press, Thursday, February 28, 1:53 PM
“Hello world from comms center in (hash)Pyongyang.”
That Twitter missive, sent Monday from Koryolink’s main service center in downtown Pyongyang using my iPhone, marked a milestone for North Korea: It was believed to be the first tweet sent from a cellphone using the country’s new 3G mobile data service.
Later, as we were driving through Pyongyang, I used my iPhone to snap a photo of a new roadside banner referring to North Korea’s controversial Feb. 12 nuclear test while AP’s Chief Asia Photographer David Guttenfelder uploaded an image to Instagram of a tour guide at a mountain temple, geotagged to Pyongyang.
Pretty ordinary stuff in the world of social media, but revolutionary for North Korea, a country with intricate rules to stage manage the flow of images and information both inside and beyond its borders.
Symantec discovers 2005 US computer virus attack on Iran nuclear plants
Internet security firm finds early 'Stuxnet O.5' version revealing espionage and sabotage virus released under George W Bush
Charles Arthur, technology editor
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 26 February 2013 18.19 GMT
Jump to comments (177)
Iran uranium-enrichment facility near Qom
An alleged uranium-enrichment facility near Qom, Iran. Symantec have discovered a 'missing link' 2005 version of a computer virus 'Stuxnet 0.05' believed to be used the US and Israel against Iran's nuclear programme. Photograph: Digital Globe/Reuters
Researchers at the security company Symantec have discovered an early version of the "Stuxnet" computer virus that was used to attack nuclear reprocessing plants in Iran, in what they say is a "missing link" dating back to 2005.
The discovery means that the US and Israel, who are believed to have jointly developed the software in order to carry out an almost undetectable attack on Iran's nuclear bomb-making ambitions, were working on the scheme long before it came to public notice – and that development of Stuxnet, and its forerunner, began under the presidency of George W Bush, rather than being a scheme hatched during Barack Obama's first term.
[Stuxnet] [Cyberwar]
How Satellite Pics Are Used to Learn About N.Korea
Think tanks and NGOs in the U.S. have increasingly been monitoring North Korea through satellite pictures. Since access to the isolated communist country is tightly restricted, commercial satellite pictures are virtually the only way to obtain hard data.
The Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, an NGO based in the U.S., analyzed pictures taken by a commercial satellite image provider which it said confirms that a notorious labor camp in Chongjin, North Hamgyong Province has been expanded.
The size of the camp increased 72 percent from 580 sq. m to 1,000 sq. m over recent years, according to the group, suggesting that the camp, which earlier had an estimated 5,000 inmates, now houses a lot more people. The number of guard posts also doubled compared to 2003.
38 North, a website operated by the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University, had warned of an impending rocket launch based on analysis of commercial satellite images before even the U.S. and South Korean intelligence agencies found out about it.
[Intelligence] [Surveillance]
N.Korea 'Registers Satellite with UN'
North Korea claims it has submitted the required documents to the UN to register a satellite it shot into space late last year. There is no evidence that the satellite works.
The North's official KCNA news agency on Tuesday said Pyongyang submitted the registration document of the Earth-observing satellite Kwangmyongsong-3 in compliance with the Convention on Registration of Objects Launched into Outer Space.
It said all legal processes regarding the satellite have been followed to the letter of international law and that North Korea has been complying with the "peaceful" development of space technology. The second unit of satellite was launched on Dec. 12 last year.
[Satellite]
Interpreting the second wave of cyber security threats to China
By Xu Peixi
China.org.cn, February 26, 2013
Threat misperception [By Jiao Haiyang/China.org.cn]
The U.S. has two times challenged China in the field of Internet governance. The first challenge came in the form of a speech delivered by former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Internet freedom following Google's withdrawal from the Chinese mainland. The second came earlier this month as a private security firm, Mandiant, released a report accusing the Chinese military of stealing U.S. intellectual property.
I have discussed the first attack in an earlier publication. How to make sense of this new offensive -- a seemingly scheduled escalation -- of the previous hostility in terms of both rhetoric and substance? Observers feel reluctant to comment on the Mandiant report because they fail to understand the technical details. However, it is fairly easy to make sense of this dispute by reading the report itself and by some creative thinking
An important point to consider is that the China-U.S. conflict over Internet governance can be traced back to the first World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) in Geneva, 2003.
[Cyberwar] [China confrontation]
NK to allow foreigners to use Twitter, Skype
North Korea has decided to allow foreigners in its country to use not only their mobile phones and iPads but access Twitter and Skype in a surprising move.
The services are provided by Koryolink and the 3-G services will begin from March 1, the North Korean authorities said.
This is another step toward the deregulation of mobile communications and access for foreigners in North Korea.
The North Korean authorities initially allowed those with USIM cards and WCDMA access to access their privileges. Previously, foreigners had to leave their devices at the immigration office.
However, the access to the Internet will be restricted to foreigners and domestic personnel will continue to be prohibited from using any of such services.
If There’s a War With China…
It’s All Evan Osnos’ Fault!
Evan Osnos is the China columnist for the New Yorker.
My impression is that he usually covers the social issues/human rights/dissident beat.
However, yesterday, riffing off the news about organized Chinese hacking of US government and private websites, he veered off into counter-proliferationblack ops:
The fact is that the United States government has already shown signs of an energetic capacity for cyber war, as in the case of Stuxnet, the software worm that the U.S., working with Israel, is believed to have used to disrupt Iran’s uranium-enrichment program. Coincidentally, I happened to ask some North Korea experts last week if Pyongyang’s latest round of nuclear tests might make it a prime target for a Stuxnet-style intervention. “The only time I heard anything along such lines recently was suspicion that the April launch failure may have resulted from cyber attack—but that was in the realm of conspiracy theory,” John Delury, of Yonsei University, in Seoul, told me.
As long as it’s in the realm of the theoretical, here’s another twist: given China’s vocal frustration with its erstwhile allies in Pyongyang, and China’s fondness for cyber adventures, any chance that China might try a Stuxnet approach to slow down a headache on its northeast border? From what I gathered, the chances were slim, in part because of operational differences between Iran and North Korea. “Do the Chinese know which industrial-control systems are in place?” Adam Segal, of the Council on Foreign Relations, asked. “Could they deliver the malware to a system that is most likely ‘air gapped’ and not connected to the Internet? Could they be sure that the infection wouldn’t spread—back to China or to U.S. or others? Do D.P.R.K. nuclear scientists travel? Is it possible to leave thumb drives around with no one noticing?”
On a couple of levels I am gobsmacked by Olnos’ blithe presumption.
I will set aside for the time being his rather fanciful view of the dynamics underlying PRC-DPRK relations. Suffice to say that Beijing’s vision for sustaining its rather precarious economic and political sway over the northern half of the Korean peninsula do not involve sabotaging Pyongyang’s most cherished strategic initiative.
But as to the casual attitude toward a “Stuxnet approach”, Stuxnet was an act of war. Full stop. If the PRC or anybody else did that to us, they would face the prospect of direct, escalating retaliation.
[Cyberwar] [Stuxnet] [Satellite]
Does China Have an Army of Hackers?
Posted by Evan Osnos
china-hacking-nk.jpg
The American computer-security firm Mandiant has pushed a big pin into the world map of cyber threats—and that pin bears the address of a twelve-story white office building in Shanghai on Datong Lu (“Great Harmony Road.”) Buried amid restaurants and shops and massage parlors, the building turns out to be the headquarters of People’s Liberation Army Unit 61398, and, as the Times puts it, an “overwhelming percentage of the attacks on American corporations, organizations and government agencies originate in and around the white tower.”
The fact is that the United States government has already shown signs of an energetic capacity for cyber war, as in the case of Stuxnet, the software worm that the U.S., working with Israel, is believed to have used to disrupt Iran’s uranium-enrichment program. Coincidentally, I happened to ask some North Korea experts last week if Pyongyang’s latest round of nuclear tests might make it a prime target for a Stuxnet-style intervention. “The only time I heard anything along such lines recently was suspicion that the April launch failure may have resulted from cyber attack—but that was in the realm of conspiracy theory,” John Delury, of Yonsei University, in Seoul, told me.
As long as it’s in the realm of the theoretical, here’s another twist: given China’s vocal frustration with its erstwhile allies in Pyongyang, and China’s fondness for cyber adventures, any chance that China might try a Stuxnet approach to slow down a headache on its northeast border? From what I gathered, the chances were slim, in part because of operational differences between Iran and North Korea. “Do the Chinese know which industrial-control systems are in place?” Adam Segal, of the Council on Foreign Relations, asked. “Could they deliver the malware to a system that is most likely ‘air gapped’ and not connected to the Internet? Could they be sure that the infection wouldn’t spread—back to China or to U.S. or others? Do D.P.R.K. nuclear scientists travel? Is it possible to leave thumb drives around with no one noticing?”
[Cyberwar] [Stuxnet] [Satellite]
'Cyberattacks using US IPs' target Chinese military
China Daily, February 21, 2013
The military has been the target of a "considerable number'' of cyberattacks, the Defense Ministry said on Wednesday.
Military computers suffered "a large number" of overseas attacks, with "a considerable number" of them originating from the US judging from the IP addresses, said ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng.
Every country should handle cybersecurity in a "professional and responsible way", Geng stressed.
But he did not directly accuse the US government of being behind the attacks as IP addresses can be disguised, he said.
The remarks came in response to a report on Tuesday by US computer security firm Mandiant that accused China's military of hacking US websites.
Cybersecurity is a new way for Washington to levy pressure on the Chinese military, observers said.
The report alleged that a military unit in Shanghai was behind a series of cyberattacks against US companies.
[Cyberattack]
Chinese cyberspies have hacked most Washington institutions, experts say
View Photo Gallery — Snapshot: Six basic questions about cybersecurity:?Two decades after the first warnings about hackers, the threat has only grown, with individuals, companies and even nations at risk. Washington Post reporter Robert O’Harrow Jr. answers six questions about personal and national vulnerability.
By Craig Timberg and Ellen Nakashima, Thursday, February 21, 2:29 PM
Start asking security experts which powerful Washington institutions have been penetrated by Chinese cyberspies, and this is the usual answer: almost all of them.
The list of those hacked in recent years includes law firms, think tanks, news organizations, human rights groups, contractors, congressional offices, embassies and federal agencies.
The information compromised by such intrusions, security experts say, would be enough to map how power is exercised in Washington to a remarkably nuanced degree. The only question, they say, is whether the Chinese have the analytical resources to sort through the massive troves of data they steal every day.
“The dark secret is there is no such thing as a secure unclassified network,” said James A. Lewis, a cybersecurity expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, which has been hacked in the past. “Law firms, think tanks, newspapers — if there’s something of interest, you should assume you’ve been penetrated.”
[Cyberattack]
U.S. said to be target of massive cyber-espionage campaign
By Ellen Nakashima,
Monday, February 11, 2:45 PM
A new intelligence assessment has concluded that the United States is the target of a massive, sustained cyber-espionage campaign that is threatening the country’s economic competitiveness, according to individuals familiar with the report.
The National Intelligence Estimate identifies China as the country most aggressively seeking to penetrate the computer systems of American businesses and institutions to gain access to data that could be used for economic gain.
The report, which represents the consensus view of the U.S. intelligence community, describes a wide range of sectors that have been the focus of hacking over the past five years, including energy, finance, information technology, aerospace and automotives, according to the individuals familiar with the report, who spoke on the condition of anonymity about the classified document. The assessment does not quantify the financial impact of the espionage, but outside experts have estimated it in the tens of billions of dollars.
Cyber-espionage, which was once viewed as a concern mainly by U.S. intelligence and the military, is increasingly seen as a direct threat to the nation’s economic interests.
In a sign of such concerns, the Obama administration is seeking ways to counter the online theft of trade secrets, according to officials. Analysts have said that the administration’s options include formal protests, the expulsion of diplomatic personnel, the imposition of travel and visa restrictions, and complaints to the World Trade Organization.
[Cyberespionage] [China bashing]
Excuses for 'cyber army' expansion
By Zhang Yixuan People's Daily Online, February 6, 2013
The United States is once again claiming to have been attacked by Chinese hackers. This time, the alleged "victim" is Dow Jones & Company, the publisher of the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.
In recent years, there have been quite many "victims" that claimed to have been attacked by "Chinese hackers": Google, arms dealers, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, NASA... In November last year, subordinate departments of the U.S. Congress even issued an annual report saying China has become the Internet world's most threatening country.
However, while the United States kept on "flattering" the "Chinese hackers" in such manner, it always seemed vague on presenting evidence. This time, the New York Times and Dow Jones & Company are still making the accusations based on similar grounds as usual – that the IP address of the attacking source is from China.
People with a little understanding of network knowledge would know that attacks of hackers are transnational and hidden in nature, and therefore the IP address cannot be taken as sufficient evidence to confirm the source of the hackers.
[Cyberespionage] [Hacking]
Future U.S. Workforce for Geospatial Intelligence
We live in a changing world with multiple and evolving threats to national security, including terrorism, asymmetrical warfare (conflicts between agents with different military powers or tactics), and social unrest. Visually depicting and assessing these threats using imagery and other geographically-referenced information is the mission of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA). As the nature of the threat evolves, so do the tools, knowledge, and skills needed to respond. The challenge for NGA is to maintain a workforce that can deal with evolving threats to national security, ongoing scientific and technological advances, and changing skills and expectations of workers.
Future U.S. Workforce for Geospatial Intelligence assesses the supply of expertise in 10 geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) fields, including 5 traditional areas (geodesy and geophysics, photogrammetry, remote sensing, cartographic science, and geographic information systems and geospatial analysis) and 5 emerging areas that could improve geospatial intelligence (GEOINT fusion, crowdsourcing, human geography, visual analytics, and forecasting). The report also identifies gaps in expertise relative to NGA's needs and suggests ways to ensure an adequate supply of geospatial intelligence expertise over the next 20 years.
[Technology] [Asymmetry]
Google in North Korea: the more things change, the more they stay the same
January 22nd, 2013
Authors: Eddie Walsh and Mark Jansson, FAS
When Google’s executive chairman, Eric Schmidt, and former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson headed to the DPRK in early January they certainly turned some heads.
Many viewed their trip as undermining Western efforts to secure stronger sanctions, following North Korea’s ballistic missile launch in December 2012. They have also been criticised for providing Kim Jong-un with an opportunity to ‘convey a sense of legitimacy and international recognition and acceptance’ to his people. With a nuclear test apparently looming over the horizon, why did Schmidt and Richardson make this visit?
[US NK policy] [MISCOM]
Pentagon to boost cybersecurity force
RICK WILKING/Reuters - A network defender works at the Air Force Space Command Network Operations & Security Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The Pentagon is expanding efforts to safeguard critical computer systems and conduct cyberattacks against foreign adversaries, officials say.
By Ellen Nakashima,
Monday, January 28, 11:42 AM
The Pentagon has approved a major expansion of its cybersecurity force over the next several years, increasing its size more than fivefold to bolster the nation’s ability to defend critical computer systems and conduct offensive computer operations against foreign adversaries, according to U.S. officials.
The move, requested by the head of the Defense Department’s Cyber Command, is part of an effort to turn an organization that has focused largely on defensive measures into the equivalent of an Internet-era fighting force. The command, made up of about 900 personnel, will expand to include 4,900 troops and civilians.
[Cyberwar] [EW]
Who’s Faking It? Pentagon “Cyber-Warriors” Planting “False Information on Facebook”
By Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich
Global Research, January 26, 2013
On November 22, 2012, the Los Angeles Times published an alarming piece of news entitled “Cyber Corps program trains spies for the digital age”. The “cyber-warriors” who are headed for organizations such as the CIA, NSC, FBI, the Pentagon and so on, are trained to stalk, “rifle through trash, sneak a tracking device on cars and plant false information on Facebook [emphasis added]. They also are taught to write computer viruses, hack digital networks, crack passwords, plant listening devices and mine data from broken cellphones and flash drives.”
Not surprisingly, less than a month later, it was rumored that Iran ’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei had started a Facebook page. The style and content of the site ruled out its authenticity, but the State Department was amused. In spite of the potential for alarm, State Department Spokeswoman Victoria Nuland jokingly expressed Washington ’s curiosity to see how many “likes’ Khamenei would receive. This is no joking matter. Any message on this page would be attributed to Khamenei with a potential for dangerous ramifications.
[IO][Disinformation]
Attack Traffic and Top Ports Attacked
Akamai maintains a distributed set of agents deployed across the Internet that monitors attack traffic. Based on data collected by these agents, Akamai is able to identify the top countries from which attack traffic originates, as well as the top ports targeted by these attacks.
Akamai observed attack traffic from 180 unique countries/regions during the third quarter of 2012, down from 188 in the second quarter. China maintained its position as the single largest volume source of observed traffic at 33 percent. The United States, at number two, experienced a slight increase in originated attack traffic with 13 percent. Russia replaced Turkey in the number three spot by generating 4.7 percent.
During the quarter, the top 10 countries/regions were responsible for generating 72 percent of the observed attack traffic. Within the top 10, slightly more than 50 percent of attack traffic was generated by three countries: China, the United States and Russia.
Receiving 30 percent of observed attack traffic, Port 445 (Microsoft-DS) remained the most targeted port. Port 23 (Telnet) was a distant second at only 7.6 percent.
[Cyberwar]
FBI is increasing pressure on suspects in Stuxnet inquiry
By Peter Finn,
Sunday, January 27, 9:52 AM
Federal investigators looking into disclosures of classified information about a cyberoperation that targeted Iran’s nuclear program have increased pressure on current and former senior government officials suspected of involvement, according to people familiar with the investigation.
The inquiry, which was started by Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. last June, is examining leaks about a computer virus developed jointly by the United States and Israel that damaged nuclear centrifuges at Iran’s primary uranium enrichment plant. The U.S. code name for the operation was Olympic Games, but the wider world knew the mysterious computer worm as Stuxnet.
New software gives FBI a potent tool in its search for who leaked classified intel about computer virus.
.
Prosecutors are pursuing “everybody — at pretty high levels, too,” said one person familiar with the investigation. “There are many people who’ve been contacted from different agencies.”
[Cyberwar]
Google Chief's Daughter Blogs About Pyongyang Trip
This file picture taken by North Koreas official Korean Central News Agency on Jan. 8, 2013 shows former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson and U.S. Internet giant Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt visiting a computer lab at Kim Il-sung University in Pyongyang. /Yonhap This file picture taken by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on Jan. 8, 2013 shows former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson and U.S. Internet giant Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt visiting a computer lab at Kim Il-sung University in Pyongyang. /Yonhap
The daughter of Google chairman Eric Schmidt visited North Korea along with her father early this month and posted a rash of photos and comments about the visit on a new blog.
"Our trip was a mixture of highly staged encounters, tightly-orchestrated viewings…," Sophie Schmidt writes. "We had zero interactions with non-state-approved North Koreans."
N.Korea Allows Foreigners to Bring Mobile Phones
North Korea lifted a ban on foreigners taking their mobile phones into the country early this month, China's CCTV reported Saturday.
They have to fill in an application form in customs, where they previously had to deposit their phones until they left the country.
Foreigners using a phone based on the European WCDMA 3G mobile standard can even buy a SIM card from the North Korean mobile provider for 3G Internet connection. "North Korea's 3G mobile network has 1.8 million users," CCTV said.
The North started the WCDMA service in cooperation with the Egyptian mobile carrier Orascom in late 2008. Mobile phones were introduced to the North for the first time in the early 2000s.
But the regime banned ordinary people from using mobile phones after a train explosion that apparently targeted former leader Kim Jong-il in April 2004.
[Mobiles]
N.Korea Allows Foreigners to Bring Mobile Phones
North Korea lifted a ban on foreigners taking their mobile phones into the country early this month, China's CCTV reported Saturday.
They have to fill in an application form in customs, where they previously had to deposit their phones until they left the country.
Foreigners using a phone based on the European WCDMA 3G mobile standard can even buy a SIM card from the North Korean mobile provider for 3G Internet connection. "North Korea's 3G mobile network has 1.8 million users," CCTV said.
The North started the WCDMA service in cooperation with the Egyptian mobile carrier Orascom in late 2008. Mobile phones were introduced to the North for the first time in the early 2000s.
But the regime banned ordinary people from using mobile phones after a train explosion that apparently targeted former leader Kim Jong-il in April 2004.
[Mobiles]
Kim Dotcom: the internet cult hero spoiling for a fight with US authorities
German-born former hacker says his eyes have been opened to US tactics after his Megaupload site was shut down last year
Share 19
Toby Manhire in Auckland guardian.co.uk, Friday 18 January 2013 19.00 GMT Kim Dotcom
Kim Dotcom in a New Zealand court last year. A series of setbacks to the prosecution has prompted speculation his extradition hearing may never be heard. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images
In massive, swaggering capital letters, "Mega" stretches across the grassy slope in front of Dotcom Mansion. A huddle of electricians and carpenters are removing the wooden stencils and wiring in the fluorescent tubes. They are up to G. All around the vast grounds of Kim Dotcom's luxury home just north of Auckland, New Zealand, gardeners and technicians are busy, like Oompa-Loompas at the Chocolate Factory, setting up for the big night, overlooked by life-size inflatable giraffes and hippos.
[Kim Dotcom] [IPR]
Park’s team embarrasses itself with North Korea hacking claim
Posted on : Jan.18,2013 16:33 KST
Kim Yong-joon, chairperson of the presidential transition committee
Transition committee withdraws hacking accusation, says “There was some miscommunication”
By Song Chae Kyung-hwa, staff reporter
A spokesperson the 18th presidential transition committee said on Jan. 17, “We have discovered that North Korea is hacking the press room.” Immediately following his comments, commotion broke out.
“The transition team have lost their minds,” said the Democratic United Party (DUP).
Head of the Transition Committee’s spokesperson’s office Lee Won-ki announced in the morning in the transition team’s pressroom in Seoul’s Samcheong neighborhood, “Yesterday a security check was run by the intelligence authorities. They detected hacking by North Korean.” But then as reports of North Korea hacking the presidential transition team were reported in the media, transition team spokesman Yoon Chang-jung said in an afternoon briefing, “There was some miscommunication in the announcement process.”
[Cyberwar] [Hysteria] [Disinformation]
N.Korea Fingered in Cyber Attack on S.Korean Daily
North Korea was behind a hacking attack on the conservative Joongang Ilbo in June last year, according to the National Police Agency's Cyber Terror Response Center.
The North launched two massive so-called distributed denial-of-service attacks on various targets in South Korea on July 7, 2009 and March 4, 2011, hacked into Nonghyup Bank's computer systems, and used malicious codes to access the e-mail accounts of students and alumni of Korea University. Then in June 2012 it struck the newspaper's website.
[Cyberwar]
Schmidt gets 'rock star' treatment in NK
By Kim Young-jin
Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt was treated like a “rock star” on a visit to North Korea last week, the head of his delegation, former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson said Saturday.
Such treatment referred to the level of interest in Schmidt on the tightly-controlled visit, despite ongoing questions over the timing of the travel in the wake of Pyongyang’s Dec. 12 long-range rocket launch.
“Eric Schmidt was like a rock star there, talking to people, to students to scientists, to software engineers about the importance of the Internet,” Richardson told CNN. “I think it is important that we not isolate the North Koreans.”
Commentary: The U.S. House Intelligence Committee Scapegoats Huawei
December 20, 2012 | in 2012: Vol. 11, No. 2, Commentary
William Abbott Foster
On October 8, 2012, the U.S. House Select Committee on Intelligence issued a report warning all American companies against using equipment from the Chinese telecom manufacturers Huawei and ZTE. The Committee report is available at: http://intelligence.house.gov/sites/intelligence.house.gov/files/documents/Huawei-ZTE%20Investigative%20Report%20%28FINAL%29.pdf
The report argues that Huawei and ZTE’s’ ability to out-compete U.S. and European telecom providers was due to financial support from the Chinese government. The Committee said that this support gave the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and the Ministry of State Security the ability to force Huawei and ZTE to put “trap doors” in equipment that they sell to American companies and the U.S. government. Electronic trap doors would open a channel for transmission of information, presumably to the Chinese security apparatus. The report makes the claim that if American critical infrastructure is built with Chinese equipment, it cannot be considered secure.
The reality is that U.S. government agencies, hi-tech firms, and universities have already been penetrated by Chinese hackers working at cross-purposes with Huawei and LTE. It is important to point out that there is no evidence that Huawei has had anything to do with these breaches. Instead of dealing with the role of China’s hackers and their Chinese People’s Liberation Army sponsors, the U.S. House Intelligence Committee has made Huawei the scapegoat for the American government’s inability to protect American companies from real threats.
[China confrontation] [ICT]
Google's Eric Schmidt says North Korea must open up to the internet
Search company boss says delegation told Pyongyang regime that future prosperity hinges on allowing greater freedoms
Share 5
Justin McCurry in Tokyo and Jonathan Kaiman in Beijing guardian.co.uk, Thursday 10 January 2013 07.50 GMT Jump to comments (2) Eric Schmidt, the Google executive chairman, under portraits of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il
Eric Schmidt, the Google executive chairman, passes under portraits of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il as he prepares to depart from Pyongyang airport. Photograph: David Guttenfelder/AP
Google's executive chairman, Eric Schmidt, has warned North Korea that it risks continued isolation and economic decline unless it quickly loosens its grip on access to the internet.
Speaking in Beijing at the end of a four-day visit to North Korea with Bill Richardson, the former governor of New Mexico, Schmidt said the regime would fall even further behind the rest of the world unless it widened access to the internet and mobile phones among its 24 million people.
"As the world becomes increasingly connected, their decision to be virtually isolated is very much going to affect their physical world, their economic growth and so forth, and it will make it harder for them to catch up economically.
"We made that alternative very clear," Schmidt said at the end of the trip that the US state department had criticised as "unhelpful" as it attempts to pressure the regime into abandoning its ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programmes.
N.Korea Gives U.S. Delegation Rare Look at Internet Use
North Korea has provided a small group of Americans with a rare look at the few people who can access the Internet in the tightly-controlled and impoverished state.
The private delegation of Google executives and former New Mexico state governor Bill Richardson were given a tour of an Internet lab Tuesday at Pyongyang's Kim Il-sung University. They spoke with several students, who could be seen using Google to look for information online.
North Korea's authoritarian government bars the vast majority of citizens from accessing the Internet to shield them from foreign influences. But in recent years, it has permitted some students of elite universities to search the Web under strict conditions and monitoring.
Executive Chairman of Google, Eric Schmidt (center) and former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson (2nd right) watch as a North Korean student surfs the Internet at a computer lab during a tour of Kim Il-sung University in Pyongyang on Jan. 8, 2013. /AP Executive Chairman of Google, Eric Schmidt (center) and former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson (2nd right) watch as a North Korean student surfs the Internet at a computer lab during a tour of Kim Il-sung University in Pyongyang on Jan. 8, 2013. /AP
The American delegation arrived Monday in Pyongyang on a four-day visit that Richardson described as "humanitarian." The U.S. State Department has criticized the trip, calling its timing "unhelpful."
The visit follows North Korea's test-launch of a long-range rocket last month -- a move denounced by Washington as a threat to regional security and a violation of UN Security Council resolutions.
Pyongyang said the test is part of a peaceful program to send a satellite into space. But Washington sees it as a bid to develop long-range missiles capable of striking the United States.
Richardson met with North Korean foreign ministry officials and described the talks as "good, productive, but frank." He did not elaborate.
In an article published Tuesday in the New York Daily News, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton said Richardson and the Google executives have "joined a long list of Americans and others used by [North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's] family dictatorship for political advantage."
Bolton said a better humanitarian approach to North Korea would be to "undercut and end" that dictatorship, rather than provide assistance that "perpetuates" it.
South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman Cho Tae-young said Seoul hopes the Americans' visit will promote "peace and stability" on the Korean Peninsula.
Google executive Schmidt observing internet use in North Korea
Posted on : Jan.9,2013 15:45 KST
Google executive Eric Schmidt (right) visits Kim Il Sung University on Jan. 8. While there, the group spoke with North Korean students about their use of the internet. (Kyodo/Yonhap News)
Outside world closely watching high-profile delegation’s visit to secretive state
By Park Hyun, Washington correspondent and Gil Yun-hyung, staff reporter
On Jan. 7 (EST), the US government said that it would hear the results of Eric Schmidt and Bill Richardson’s visit to North Korea after the delegation returns from the country. Schmidt is the chairman of Google and Richardson is a former governor of New Mexico.
At the daily US State Department press briefing on Jan. 7, spokesperson Victoria Nuland once again expressed criticism for the visit. “We continue to think the trip is ill-advised,” she said.
However, when asked if the government wanted to hear what the team accomplishes during the visit, she said “We are always open to hearing from Americans who have been in North Korea.”
Google Chief Arrives in N.Korea
Google chairman Eric Schmidt flew to North Korea aboard a Chinese passenger plane on Monday accompanying nine other Americans including former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson.
Schmidt and Richardson plan to meet North Korean officials and discuss the release of Kenneth Bae, an American citizen who has been detained there on charges of spying.
Google Chairman Eric Schmidt (center) arrives in Pyongyang on Monday. /AP-Newsis Google Chairman Eric Schmidt (center) arrives in Pyongyang on Monday. /AP-Newsis
Schmidt refused to comment on the purpose of the trip when approached by reporters at Beijing International Airport.
Richardson and Schmidt in North Korea on “a private humanitarian mission”
Posted on : Jan.8,2013 15:41 KST
Bill Richardson (left), Eric Schmidt (right) and Jared Cohen (top) arrive in Pyongyang Sunan airport from Beijing on Jan. 7 at the start of their private trip. (AP/Yonhap News)
Google chairman and former governor hope visit signals more openness to come from North Korea
By Park Min-hee, Beijing correspondent
On Jan. 7, Eric Schmidt, Bill Richardson, and the rest of the delegation arrived in North Korea. Schmidt is chairman of Google, the world’s largest internet firm and Richardson is a former governor of New Mexico.
At 1:40 pm, the nine members of the delegation, led by Richardson, departed from Beijing, China for Pyongyang, North Korea, on Air China flight CA 121. While in the North, they are planning to assess North Korea’s food supply and economic situation and discuss the release of Kenneth Bae (Korean name Pae Jun-ho), who is currently detained in the North. Speaking to reporters at Beijing Airport, Richardson described the trip as “a private humanitarian mission”.
Mr. Schmidt Goes to Pyongyang
Google’s chairman is visiting North Korea. Will the hermit kingdom finally permit the Internet?
By Emily Parker|Posted Monday, Jan. 7, 2013, at 2:41 PM ET
5 A North Korean worker checks a computer at the control room of a textile factory in Pyongyang in April 2012.
A North Korean worker checks a computer at the control room of a textile factory in Pyongyang in April 2012
Photo by Pedro Ugarte/AFP/Getty Images.
On Monday, Google Chairman Eric Schmidt arrived in North Korea, a country that is almost completely cut off from the Internet. Schmidt, who is traveling with former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, is part of what has been termed a private humanitarian mission. (Update, 5:40 p.m.: Disclosure: Schmidt is the chairman of the New America Foundation Board. I am a fellow with the New America Foundation.) The State Department has nonetheless expressed dissatisfaction, saying that the timing of the visit is not “particularly helpful.”
Is there ever an optimal time to visit North Korea? It is true, however, that in recent months Pyongyang has been particularly belligerent. Last month, North Korea detained Kenneth Bae, a naturalized American citizen who was born in Seoul, for unspecified “hostile acts against the republic.” Further complicating matters is North Korea’s launch of a long-range rocket, which the United States viewed as an attempt to develop a ballistic missile.
Richardson dismisses U.S. gov't worries over his N. Korea trip plan
Former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson said Friday that he and Google Chairman Eric Schmidt plan to make a "private humanitarian visit" to North Korea.
The diplomat-turned-politician was countering the U.S. government's explicit concerns about their planned trip, which comes as the U.S. is pushing for a strong United Nations-led measure against the communist nation for its long-range rocket launch in December.
Google executive chairman and ex-New Mexico Gov. Richardson heading to North Korea
By Associated Press,
Updated: Monday, January 7, 8:40 PM
BEIJING — The Google chairman wants a first-hand look at North Korea’s economy and social media in his private visit Monday to the communist nation, his delegation said, despite misgivings in Washington over the timing of the trip.
Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of one of the world’s biggest Internet companies, is the highest-profile U.S. executive to visit North Korea — a country with notoriously restrictive online policies — since young leader Kim Jong Un took power a year ago.
Schmidt departed Beijing on Monday aboard a flight to Pyongyang with a delegation led by former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who has traveled more than a half-dozen times to North Korea over the past 20 years. Richardson called the trip a private, humanitarian mission.
Analysis: US put in awkward position by Google chief Eric Schmidt’s plans to visit North Korea
By Associated Press,
Published: January 5
WASHINGTON — Google chief Eric Schmidt’s plan to visit North Korea has put the Obama administration in the awkward position of opposing a champion of Internet freedom who’s decided to engage with one of the most intensely censored countries.
The administration is wary for a reason. It fears that Schmidt’s trip could give a boost to North Korea’s young leader, Kim Jong Un, just when Washington is trying to pressure him.
Why Is Google Chief Going to N.Korea?
Eric Schmidt /AP-Yonhap Eric Schmidt /AP-Yonhap
Google chairman Eric Schmidt is to visit North Korea as part of a humanitarian mission led by former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson. A diplomat in Seoul on Thursday said Schmidt will visit this weekend or next week "in a personal capacity."
Schmidt planned to visit North Korea last year, but the visit was postponed due to North Korea's rocket launch late in December.
The Obama administration tried to dissuade Schmidt because sanctions against the North were being discussed following the rocket launch but recently approved his plan.
N.Korean Delegation Inspect Google Headquarters
A North Korean economic delegation that has been visiting the U.S. since March 21 toured the Google headquarters in Mountain View, California on Friday. Google, with its massively successful search engines, is one of the leading U.S. IT companies.
The 12-member delegation arrived at Google's headquarters at around 10 a.m. The 1-hour-40-minute tour was not open to media coverage. Afterwards the North Koreans moved on to Stanford University, which has a cooperative relationship with Google, and apparently attended a lunch seminar with staffers from other IT companies in Silicon Valley.
A North Korean delegation on a visit to the U.S. walk by students in Stanford University on Friday. /Yonhap A North Korean delegation on a visit to the U.S. walk by students in Stanford University on Friday. /Yonhap
Neither the U.S. nor North Korea announced the meeting between officials from the world's most isolated country and businesses that stress free and open communication. Who proposed the tour is not known.
Google executive expected to visit North Korea
Posted on : Jan.4,2013 11:42 KSTModified on : Jan.4,2013 11:46 KST
In April 2007, Bill Richardson, third from the left, posed for a picture in North Korea with his advisor Tony Namkung (second from the right) and then-White House advisor on North Korea Victor Cha (second from the right) after meeting with Kim Yong-dae (center), vice-chairman of the Supreme People’s Assembly. The Americans had traveled to Pyongyang to discuss the repatriation of American soldiers who fought in the Korean War. (AP/Yonhap News)
Proponent of internet freedom said to have no official agenda in trip to country with strict online controls
By Park Hyun, Washington correspondent
Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Google, and Bill Richardson, former governor of New Mexico, are planning to visit North Korea sometime this month, multiple diplomatic sources in Washington said on Jan. 3.
“Schmidt and Richardson are planning to visit the North this month for personal reasons,” said a diplomatic source.
Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Google
This was confirmed by another diplomatic source. “My understanding is that their visit is unconnected with issues like the North Korean long-range missile launch or the Korean-American Pae Jun Ho (American name Kenneth Bae), who the North is holding in custody. I was told that they had planned the visit before Bae’s case came up.”
The Associated Press (AP) reported, “Eric Schmidt will be traveling to North Korea on a private, humanitarian mission led by former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson.”
Schmidt’s visit to the North has symbolic resonance, as it will be the first time the chairman of the world’s largest internet company travels to a country with some of the world’s tightest controls on internet use.
“Schmidt is a strong believer that the Internet can be used to overcome poverty, and he is actively engaged in international activities,” another source explained. “It’s possible that he could donate some internet-related equipment to North Korea or provide some other sort of humanitarian aid.”
Google Chairman to Visit N.Korea
Eric Schmidt, Google's executive chairman, is planning a trip to North Korea, the Associated Press reported on Wednesday.
The news agency said he could travel to the reclusive state "as early as this month" as part of a group led by former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson. This would mark the first trip by a top executive from the U.S.-based search engine to North Korea, which is known to have the world's most restrictive Internet policies
Google boss Eric Schmidt plans to visit North Korea, according to AP report
Alex Wong/GETTY IMAGES - Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt, who is responsible for Google’s government outreach, could push for North Korea to loosen restrictions in limited areas, such as in its education programs, analysts said.
By Chico Harlan,
Published: January 3
SEOUL — Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt, a pioneer for free and open communication, is planning a trip to North Korea, an isolated police state that prohibits nearly all of its citizens from using the Internet.
The Associated Press, which reported the trip, said Schmidt will travel with former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson on what was termed a private, humanitarian mission. They could leave as early as this month.
The trip, analysts said, is unlikely to spawn immediate change in North Korea, whose family-run leadership prohibits outside information as a way to maintain its power. Google, too, would likely balk at a partnership with Pyongyang: The search engine would face restrictions in North Korea far more severe than those in China, the country from which it pulled out in 2010 because of Internet censorship.
But Schmidt, who is responsible for Google’s government outreach, could push for North Korea to loosen restrictions in limited areas, such as in its education programs, analysts said.
Internship Roundup
Choson Exchange | Wednesday, December 5th, 2012 | No Comments »
Some observations from team members who were involved in our pilot internship in Singapore, during which 5 Koreans spent a four-week practicum at a start-up incubator.
We took five interns aged 25-39, three of whom were ladies. Our statistics department informs us this equals 60%. The staff and interns got along well and the Koreans got a chance to see how a business in a trending industry is run, as well as understand the norms and goals for their equivalent young professionals.
For CE, this internship was a good opportunity for us to understand better the role which women play in North Korean business contexts, and how also to better comprehend how programs should be conducted moving forward.
[Training]
Kim Hyong Jik University of Education Develops Many Software
Teachers and researchers of the university developed new-type programs helpful to making students study and deeply grasp the immortal revolutionary exploits performed by President Kim Il Sung, leader Kim Jong Il and anti-Japanese war hero Kim Jong Suk. They also succeeded in studying the system for supporting the tele-education in close contact with different universities and scientific and research institutions and have used it in education.
They developed software for studying English grammars conducive to the deep learning of foreign languages' grammars, one for judging possession of English vocabulary in objective and scientific manner, one for reciting English which helps students hear English texts of standard pronunciation, etc.
Among the software developed by them are one for supporting the study of fast reading and one for managing all businesses in library.
They also succeeded in making valuable programs including system for supporting the tele-education in science of finance, system for supporting the tele-education in calisthenics, system for auto-test, system for the physical simulated experiment through remote control, system for the simulated experiment of biochemistry and system for assessing analytics.
[Software] [Education]
The three big questions on Syria’s Internet blackout
Posted by Max Fisher on November 29, 2012 at 1:07 pm
This morning, an entire country was effectively cut off from the Internet. Web traffic in and out of Syria dropped to zero abruptly, a drastic development more than a year into a conflict that has claimed tens of thousands of lives. Cellphone service also appears to be partially down, according to the BBC, and there are reports that the Damascus airport has been largely shut down, as well.
[Cyberwar]
CyberCity allows government hackers to train for attacks
By Robert O’Harrow Jr.,
Tuesday, November 27, 1:42 PM
CyberCity has all the makings of a regular town. There’s a bank, a hospital and a power plant. A train station operates near a water tower. The coffee shop offers free WiFi.
But only certain people can get in: government hackers preparing for battles in cyberspace.
The Pentagon is building a virtual city that will enable government hackers to practice attacking and defending the computers and networks that increasingly run the world’s water, power and other critical systems. To reinforce the effect of those attacks, the cyber-range, known as “CyberCity,” will include a scale model of buildings and other facilities that will light up when attacks have been successful.
Click Here to View Full Graphic Story
The Pentagon is building a virtual city that will enable government hackers to practice attacking and defending the computers and networks that increasingly run the world’s water, power and other critical systems. To reinforce the effect of those attacks, the cyber-range, known as “CyberCity,” will include a scale model of buildings and other facilities that will light up when attacks have been successful.
Government and business leaders in the United States and around the world are rushing to build better defenses - and prepare for the coming battles in the digital universe. To succeed, they must understand one of the most complex, man-made environments on Earth: cyberspace.
Government and business leaders in the United States and around the world are rushing to build better defenses - and prepare for the coming battles in the digital universe. To succeed, they must understand one of the most complex, man-made environments on Earth: cyberspace.
The town is a virtual place that exists only on computer networks run by a New Jersey-based security firm working under contract with the U.S. Air Force. Computers simulate communications and operations, including e-mail, heating systems, a railroad and an online social networking site, dubbed FaceSpace.
[Cyberwar]
As cyberwarfare heats up, allies turn to U.S. companies for expertise
Jeffrey MacMillan/For The Washington Post - In the spring of 2010, a sheik in the government of Qatar began talks with the U.S. consulting company Booz Allen Hamilton, aboev, about developing a plan to build a cyber-operations center.
By Ellen Nakashima,
Published: November 23
In the spring of 2010, a sheik in the government of Qatar began talks with the U.S. consulting company Booz Allen Hamilton about developing a plan to build a cyber-operations center. He feared Iran’s growing ability to attack its regional foes in cyberspace and wanted Qatar to have the means to respond.
Several months later, officials from Booz Allen and partner firms met at the company’s sprawling Tysons Corner campus to review the proposed plan. They were scheduled to take it to Doha, the capital of the wealthy Persian Gulf state.
That was when J. Michael McConnell, a senior vice president at Booz Allen and former director of national intelligence in the George W. Bush administration, learned that Qatar wanted U.S. personnel at the keyboards of its proposed cyber-center, potentially to carry out attacks on regional adversaries.
“Are we talking about actually conducting these operations?” McConnell asked, according to several people at the meeting. When someone said that was the idea, McConnell uttered two words: “Hold it.”
[Cyberwar] [Arms sales]
N. Korea sites multiply on YouTube
By Kim Young-jin
South Koreans have long been restricted from accessing the Internet and other media from North Korea. But in the age of YouTube they can now get an eyeful — if they care to.
The number of YouTube channels carrying North Korean material — some with links to the regime — has climbed steadily this year, according to a list compiled by North-focused website North Korea Tech.
[Censor]
The Hackers of Damascus
By Stephan Faris on November 15, 2012
Taymour Karim didn’t crack under interrogation. His Syrian captors beat him with their fists, with their boots, with sticks, with chains, with the butts of their Kalashnikovs. They hit him so hard they broke two of his teeth and three of his ribs. They threatened to keep torturing him until he died. “I believed I would never see the sun again,” he recalls. But Karim, a 31-year-old doctor who had spent the previous months protesting against the government in Damascus, refused to give up the names of his friends.
It didn’t matter. His computer had already told all. “They knew everything about me,” he says. “The people I talked to, the plans, the dates, the stories of other people, every movement, every word I said through Skype. They even knew the password of my Skype account.” At one point during the interrogation, Karim was presented with a stack of more than 1,000 pages of printouts, data from his Skype chats and files his torturers had downloaded remotely using a malicious computer program to penetrate his hard drive. “My computer was arrested before me,” he says.
[Cyberwar]
Many Units Get Access to IT
Pyongyang, November 13 (KCNA) -- A lot of information technologies have been applied to economic sectors in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
The 23rd national software contest and exhibition, held some days ago, presented software necessarily needed in various fields. Among them were IPTV broadcasting software, translation program and IC card settlement program.
Many units have put their operation on a computer basis.
The Ministry of Agriculture finished setting up networks with provincial rural economy committees.
The Sunchon Chemical Complex put production and management on a basis of combined automation system.
The same is true for the Taehongdan Potato Processing Factory, the Kanggye Koryo Medicine Processing Factory and others.
Meanwhile, a number of applications for new software are filed by other countries.
[ICT]
Countering Chinese Cyber Operations:
Opportunities and Challenges for U.S. Interests
Mark A. Stokes and L.C. Russell Hsiao
October 29, 2012
Introduction
Computer networks are the main arteries of cyber operations. Information and
communications technology enable and enhance the capabilities of actors to engage in
the cyber realm. Modern societies and governments increasingly rely on cyber-based
information systems in order to process, coordinate, and manage critical processes
necessary to function. Yet due to the highly automated and interconnected nature of
economic transactions and the protection of critical infrastructure, the cyber domain is
emerging as a new dimension in conflicts of the future. Therefore, the capability
inherent in the exploitation of computer network operations (CNO) represents a
significant evolutionary stage in both civil and military affairs. In the case of the People’s
Republic of China (China), driven by political insecurities and a quest for total
information awareness, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), state authorities, and the
Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) are allegedly waging a coordinated CNO
campaign against a broad range of international targets.
Chinese cyber espionage poses an advanced persistent threat to U.S. national and
economic security.
[Cyberespionage]
Kim Dotcom – pass notes No 3,276
The filesharing tycoon has Mega ambitions with his Megaupload successor – as long as he stays out of prison
Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom: wants to supply every house in New Zealand with free broadband. Photograph: Reuters
Age: 38
Appearance: Like a small black bouncy castle.
That's a very unkind remark. There are a lot of overweight people who struggle with low self-esteem. I think Dotcom might be one of the other ones.
What makes you say that? He is a flamboyant filesharing tycoon who lives in a mansion in New Zealand surrounded by giant photographs of himself.
He's probably just shy. It would have to be the kind of shyness that makes you drive around in a pink Cadillac convertible and a Rolls-Royce with the numberplate "GOD". Because those are Dotcom's cars, or at least they were until they were seized in a police raid in January that was later ruled to be illegal.
[Kim Dotcom] [IPR]
Internet anti-censorship tools are being overwhelmed by demand
By James Ball,
Oct 22, 2012 12:26 AM EDT
The Washington Post
U.S.-funded programs to beat back online censorship are increasingly finding a ready audience in repressive countries, with more than 1 million people a day using online tools to get past extensive blocking programs and government surveillance.
But the popularity of those initiatives has become a liability.
Activists and nonprofit groups say that their online circumvention tools, funded by the U.S. government, are being overwhelmed by demand and that there is not enough money to expand capacity. The result: online bottlenecks that have made the tools slow and often inaccessible to users in China, Iran and elsewhere, threatening to derail the Internet freedom agenda championed by the Obama administration.
[Subversion] [Cyberwar]
The inevitable blowback to high-tech warfare
By Walter Pincus, Published: October 16
Blowback is defined as “an unforeseen and unwanted effect, result, or set of repercussions,” according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary.
Are some modern military techniques first employed by the United States coming back to haunt us? It would not be the first time.
In a speech Thursday on cybersecurity, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta described as “probably the most destructive attack that the private sector has seen to date” the Shamoon computer virus that in August virtually destroyed 30,000 computers belonging to the Saudi Arabian state oil company Aramco.
Did Panetta limit his description in his talk before the Business Executives for National Security in New York to “the private sector” because he knows of the major cyberattacks against foreign governments? What crossed my mind was the Stuxnet virus, which has been described as a U.S.-Israeli collaboration that, beginning in 2009 and for at least a year, affected software associated with Iran’s nuclear program. In February, the Iranian Fars News Agency quoted a Tehran intelligence officer as saying that 16,000 computers in Iran had been infected by Stuxnet.
Earlier, there was Flame, another intelligence-gathering virus that focused on Iranian and other Middle Eastern computers. International computer security companies reported that Flame had some of the same characteristics as Stuxnet and apparently the same U.S.-Israeli origin.
Should we be surprised that Iran may have been behind the attacks on Aramco and probes of U.S. banks?
[Cyberwar] [Unintended consequences]
When is a cyberattack an act of war?
By Ellen Nakashima,
Oct 26, 2012 11:35 PM EDT
The Washington Post
On the night of Oct. 11, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta stood inside the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, housed in a former aircraft carrier moored at a New York City pier, and let an audience of business executives in on one of the most important conversations inside the U.S. government.
He warned of a “cyber Pearl Harbor,” evoking one of the most tragic moments in American history, when Japanese bombers unleashed a devastating surprise attack on a U.S. naval base in Hawaii on Dec. 7, 1941, killing 2,402 Americans and wounding 1,282 more. President Franklin D. Roosevelt called it “a date which will live in infamy” as he asked Congress for a declaration of war.
Sixty years later, another surprise attack killed almost 3,000 people when al-Qaeda terrorists flew two jetliners into New York’s twin towers. Panetta cited the Sept. 11, 2001, strikes, too, warning that the United States is in a “pre-9/11 moment,” with critical computer systems vulnerable to assault.
We all know what an act of war looks like on land or sea, and by evoking two of the most searing attacks in our modern history, Panetta was trying to raise a sense of urgency about the threat in a new domain made of bits and bytes zinging between servers around the world.
But what does an act of war look like in cyberspace?
And perhaps more important, what does the U.S. government do when cyberattacks fall short of that — assuming it can identify the perpetrators in the first place?
[Cyberwar] [Inversion]
Cyber Activists Turn Attention to 'Comfort Women'
A group of self-appointed "cyber diplomats" who combat what they see as misconceptions about Korea is seeking to boost awareness of Japan's sexual enslavement of Asian women in World War II and its flimsy claim to the Dokdo islets.
[Cyberactivism]
America Freaked Out by the Cyberboogeyman It Unleashed
The theme of Secretary of Defense Panetta’s remarks at the Intrepid Air and Sea Museum on October 12 before the “Business Executives for National Security”, in the words of the BBC:
Leon Panetta warns of “cyber Pearl Harbor”
Actually, Mr. Panetta, the “cyber Pearl Harbor” has already happened.
It was called Stuxnet, the virus designed and delivered by the governments of the United States and Israel to sabotage Iran’s nuclear program.
By unleashing Stuxnet—an act of cyberwar—a Rubicon was crossed. Not my words, but the words of Michael Hayden, the ex-director of the CIA.
Now the United States is scrambling to deal with the consequences…and the Western media is by and large obligingly doing its best to help shove Stuxnet into the memory hole.
Panetta used his speech to push for more cybersecurity legislation by discussing cyberattacks on Aramco in Saudi Arabia and RasGas of Qatar using the “Shamoon” virus. The attacks—which occurred and were reported in August 2012, a few months after Stuxnet—wiped data from tens thousands of management computers, replaced some files with a taunting image of a burning American flag, and reportedly rendered the computers useless.
I was amused to hear that Mr. Panetta carefully characterized these incidents as “the most destructive [cyber] attack that the private sector has seen to date.”
I assume he added the “private sector” qualifier to put the fear of cyber-God into the security-obsessed executives he was addressing (although applying the term “private sector” to Aramco, the state-owned Saudi Arabian oil behemoth and RasGas, which is 70% owned by state-owned Qatar Petroleum is a bit of a stretch).
But limiting the scope of discussion to “private sector” cyberattacks also excludes the much more significant, expensive, fiendishly complex, and destructive Stuxnet virus, which attacked and disabled a strategic Iranian government installation.
[Entitlement] [Cyberwar] [Stuxnet] [Unintended consequences] [Response]
Cyberwar on Iran more widespread than first thought, say researchers
Study of Flame malware used in Middle East and north Africa reveals programmers probably had national backing
Peter Beaumont
guardian.co.uk, Friday 21 September 2012 13.05 BST
A screen grab taken by Kaspersky Lab shows the sophisticated computer worm Flame. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images
The covert cyberwar being waged in the Middle East and north Africa – particularly against Iran and its allies – is even more sophisticated and widespread than had previously been understood, according to new research.
Two leading computer security laboratories – Kaspersky Lab and Symantec – have been studying a series of powerful cyberweapons used against targets including the Iranian nuclear programme and Lebanese banks accused of laundering money for Iran and its ally Hezbollah. They are now convinced that all were probably created by a national government or governments working together.
They have also identified key similarities in the weapons' computer coding suggesting some – if not all – were worked on at different times by the same or related groups of programmers.
Suspicion over the most likely culprit has centred on the US and Israel – not least after anonymous briefings to the Washington Post by an unnamed former senior US intelligence official this year.
In June the New York Times disclosed that one of the weapons identified in the last two years – Stuxnet, a sabotage program used to attack Iran's nuclear centrifuge in 2010 – was part of a joint US-Israel cyberwar plan, codenamed Olympic Games, targeting the Islamic republic, which suggests that the other cyber weapons could be part of the same wide operation.
The latest disclosures follow forensic analysis by Symantec and the Moscow-based Kaspersky Lab of two command and control servers used by a sophisticated espionage worm named Flame, which was discovered by Iran this year stealing data from its computers.
[Cyberwar]
Amnesty International Web site hacked
Screenshot: James Ball - A screen capture shows the hacked Amnesty Interntional blog Livewire, which was altered to give the appearance that the organization opposes support for Syrian rebel goups.
By James Ball, Updated: Tuesday, August 28, 7:41 PMThe Washington Post
Supporters of the Syrian government hacked the Web site of Amnesty International, posting items that falsely accused the rebels of a string of atrocities.
The sophisticated cyberattack, which occurred Monday, was similar to the targeting this month of blogs operated by Reuters news service.
In Amnesty’s case, the primary target of the hacking appeared to be the group’s Livewire blog, which offers first-person perspectives and commentary from Amnesty researchers and field workers.
According to Amnesty officials, social media users began posting false items accusing the Syrian rebels of committing massacres that had been linked to government forces.
One fake blog post claimed rebel groups were responsible for a massacre in the town of Houla in May, which killed 108, including 49 children. Amnesty’s actual position, shared by Western governments, is that Syrian government forces and militias were responsible for the killings.
[Cyberactivism]
Does Apple-Samsung Ruling Spell the End for Android?
After being awarded US$1.05 billion in damages by a jury which found that Samsung had copied the designs of the iPhone and iPad, Apple has sought a U.S. district court to ban any smartphones and touch-screen tablet PCs manufactured by the Korean electronics giant. The Northern District Court of California has asked Apple to submit a list of products involved.
Apple's final aim is apparently to ban all Samsung's smart devices in the U.S.
Market researcher Strategy Analytics says Apple tops the North American market for smartphones with 33.2 percent by selling 8.5 million of the devices in the second quarter of this year, and Samsung ranked second with a 23.4 percent share or six million. Motorola came third with 2.3 million smartphones sold in the US, followed by LG Electronics with 2.1 million.
The jury's decision puts the entire fate of makers using Google’s Android OS in jeopardy.
[Protectionism] [ICT] [IPR] [Friction]
Lessons from Samsung's Defeat in U.S. Patent Suit
A nine-member jury at the Northern District Court of California decided on Friday that Samsung Electronics owes Apple US$1.05 billion in compensation for infringing on six patents, including the design of the iPhone and iPad. The jury rejected all the patent infringements Samsung accused Apple of.
The latest ruling comes after a court in Korea a day earlier that ruled both in favor of Samsung and Apple. The Seoul Central District Court said Apple had infringed two of Samsung's mobile communications technology patents and did not accept Apple's claims that the "rectangular with round edges" design was its own, though it did fine Samsung for other violations. Courts in the UK and Germany also ruled recently that Samsung's Galaxy Tab did not copy Apple's iPad.
The reasons for the contrasting rulings have to do with the U.S. jury system, which relies on the judgments of ordinary people rather than industry experts. Instead of delving deeply into complicated technological problems, jurors in the U.S. probably focused more on the design patents.
[Protectionism] [ICT] [IPR] [Friction]
Patent patriotism
Undue protection does more harm than good
By handing a one-sided victory to Apple over Samsung in patent suits Friday, a U.S. court put innovation ahead of competition. Or, it placed corporate interests over consumer welfare, as the loser sees it. And this issue will continue to harass judges and jurors in the worldwide patent war, which has just ended its first round.
It is hard even for experts to know the borderline that decides the values of these two conflicting industrial concepts. One can’t help but wonder how the nine laypersons in the California court studied hundreds of sophisticated technological items in just three days. Was there a prevalence of patriotism over professionalism especially in a time of a prolonged slump in major economies, including the United States?
US online aggression drives cornered Tehran into isolation
Global Times | 2012-8-14 20:15:03
By Zou Yingmeng
Editor's Note:
According to a recent statement by the Iranian Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, Iran plans to cut access to the Internet in August and replace it with a national intranet. Web sites such as Google, Hotmail, and Yahoo will be blocked and replaced by government-administered services. What sparked this plan? Can Iran survive economically if cut off from the US-dominated global Internet? The Global Times invited two experts to give their thoughts.
Iran already has the largest number of netizens in the Middle East. According to the Agence France-Presse, about 33 million Iranians are online.
Though the Iranian government has already announced it will implement this plan to cut access to the Internet, it will face a lot of obstacles.
It's difficult to conceive of a national intranet which is completely isolated from the outside Internet. Besides, even to a country like Iran whose economy is quite isolated from the Western world due to sanctions, Internet offers convenience for trade and business. Limitations on the Internet will influence investment from Russia, China and other trade partners.
But on the other hand, Iran was driven by necessity to introduce this policy. Several years ago, Twitter, an online social networking service, almost led to a revolution in Iran. And Iran was the target of the Stuxnet virus, a joint Israeli-US operation aimed at impeding its nuclear development.
[Cyberwar] [Subcritical] [Internet]
Korea Policing the Net. Twist? It’s South Korea.
By CHOE SANG-HUN
Published: August 12, 2012
SEOUL, South Korea — A government critic who called the president a curse word on his Twitter account found it blocked. An activist whose Twitter posting likened officials to pirates for approving a controversial naval base was accused by the navy of criminal defamation. And a judge who wrote that the president (“His Highness”) was out to “screw” Internet users who challenged his authority was fired in what was widely seen as retaliation.
Such a crackdown on Internet freedom would be notable, but perhaps not surprising, in China, with its army of vigilant online censors. But the avid policing of social media in these cases took place in South Korea, a thriving democracy and one of the world’s most wired societies.
[Censorship] [Human rights]
Virus Seeking Bank Data Is Tied to Attack on Iran
By NICOLE PERLROTH
A security firm said Thursday that it had discovered what it believed was the fourth state-sponsored computer virus to surface in the Middle East in the last three years, apparently aimed at computers in Lebanon.
The firm, Kaspersky Lab, said that the virus appeared to have been written by the same programmers who created Flame, the data-mining computer virus that was found to be spying on computers in Iran in May, and that it might be linked to Stuxnet, the virus that disrupted uranium enrichment work in Iran in 2010.
Lebanon experts said that an American cyber espionage campaign directed at Lebanon’s banking system would seem to be a plausible possibility, given Washington’s concerns that the country’s banks are being used as a financial conduit for the Syrian government and for Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group and political party.
[Cyberwar] [Subcritical warfare]
Internet Attacks From China and US Increased in First Quarter of 2012, Report Says
By Loek Essers, IDG-News-Service:Amsterdam-Bureau
China and the U.S. were the two largest sources of Internet-attack traffic in the first quarter of 2012, increasing to account for 16 percent and 11 percent respectively, according to Akamai Technologies.
Attack traffic from China increased three percentage points compared to the last quarter of 2011 and attacks from the U.S. increased one percentage point in the same period, Akamai said in its First Quarter, 2012 State of the Internet report. Russia ranks third in the top ten and generated 7 percent of all attack traffic, a slight increase compared to last year's results.
Business and Outsourcing in North Korea: Interview with Paul Tjia
By admin·July 24, 2012·No comments
Featured Content·
Two weeks ago, NK News dispatched Nicolle Loughlin to the Netherlands for a soon to be published special feature. While she was there, Nicolle took the opportunity to speak to three prominent figures from the Netherlands’ North Korea community, including individuals in the fields of academia, business, and tourism. Our mini series of Netherlands-based content last week kicked off with an extended interview with Dr. Remco Breuker of Leiden University and today we publish an extended interview with Dutch businessman and North Korea specialist, Paul Tjia.
Paul Tjia is Managing Director of GPI Consultancy, a specialist enterprise in offshore sourcing. Established in 1995, GPI Consultancy is one of the few independent Dutch consultancy firms in the field of ‘offshore sourcing’ and Paul is one of the most experienced offshore consultants in The Netherlands. As an expert in global sourcing, Paul assists clients with offshore feasibility study and country and partner selection; with North Korea as one of the country’s that he specializes in. In addition to directing GPI Consultancy, Paul also co-authored “Offshoring Information Technology“, a must-read book about IT outsourcing.
'N. Korea disables key functions in new mobile phones'
North Korea has disabled video camera and memory card functions in new mobile phones, a news report said Saturday, in what appears to be Pyongyang's latest move to tighten control over the flow of information within and across its borders.
The North also removed the Bluetooth function, a protocol that allows mobile phone users to exchange data over short distances, and blocked subscribers from using mobile phones beyond the city where they are registered, Washington-based Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported, citing a Japanese journalist familiar with the issue.
"Mobile phones have played a big role in spreading information," said Ishimaru Jiro, the publisher of Rimjin-gang Magazine, which is written by undercover journalists inside the North, according to RFA. With the technological restrictions, however, the new mobile phones "have lost key functions for the spread and proliferation of information inside and outside North Korea," he said.
[Mobiles]
Online Koryo Medical Service System Established in DPRK
Pyongyang, July 6 (KCNA) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea has made a radical progress in putting medical service on an IT basis.
The Academy of Koryo Medicine established the online Koryo medical service system across the country.
This system helps central hospitals share with local hospitals information on prevention and remedy of diseases by Koryo medicine through computer network. The system covers diagnosis, assistance to treatment, access to database and consultations.
Local medical workers can easily get access to data on diagnosis and remedy by Koryo medicine. Ordinary people, too, can get such a kind of medical service through network
Syria activists using U.S. tech to beat curbs
By Mohammed Abbas
LONDON, June 21 | Thu Jun 21, 2012 8:54pm IST
LONDON, June 21 (Reuters) - U.S. technologies that may include a mobile phone "panic button" and an "internet suitcase" are being used by activists in Syria and other authoritarian countries to override government communications controls, a U.S. official said on Thursday.
Alec Ross, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's senior adviser for innovation, said the United States was working on between 10 and 20 classified technologies that could be used by protesters and others facing communications curbs.
He also described how Facebook and other social networks could be used to challenge propaganda spread online by what he called the "Syrian Electronic Army".
"They're (some of the new technologies) being used in Syria. A number of the organisations that have benefited from our training include Syrian citizens," Ross told reporters in London, declining to specify which of the technologies were being used.
Ross outlined one U.S. innovation that he said was inspired by the detention of protesters in Iran and the mining of their phones for information on activist networks.
The so-called "panic button" is a pin code that when entered into a mobile phone will immediately wipe its address book and messages.
[Cyberwar] [Cyberactivism] [Outsourcing]
Rules for robot-war
From the Newspaper | Irfan Husain | 3 days ago
DOES the deployment of a computer virus by one state against another constitute an act of war? In this wired world, sabotaging a country’s computer systems through malware, or a piece of computer code designed to cause damage, is surely an offensive action equivalent to firing a missile at an enemy.
But thus far, international law has not kept pace with technology, and states can and do use these unseen weapons to further their agendas. Thus, malware like Stuxnet and Flame have apparently been launched against Iranian computers by American and Israeli experts to slow down its nuclear programme and to spy on its leaders.
The advantage this kind of high-tech warfare offers is deniability. Also, there is no visible collateral damage. Unlike crude assassinations – also allegedly carried out by Israeli agents against Iranian nuclear scientists – cyber-attacks leave no blood and few clues.
Despite the apparently clinical nature of such attacks, they are nevertheless illegal. The fact that there has been no outcry against them is yet another indication of the increasing recourse to hostile actions conducted by states, and the tolerance they now enjoy across the world.
[Cyberwar] [Legality]
U.S., Israel developed Flame computer virus to slow Iranian nuclear efforts, officials say
By Ellen Nakashima, Greg Miller and Julie Tate, Wednesday, June 20, 7:07 AM
The United States and Israel jointly developed a sophisticated computer virus nicknamed Flame that collected intelligence in preparation for cyber-sabotage aimed at slowing Iran’s ability to develop a nuclear weapon, according to Western officials with knowledge of the effort.
The massive piece of malware secretly mapped and monitored Iran’s computer networks, sending back a steady stream of intelligence to prepare for a cyberwarfare campaign, according to the officials.
The effort, involving the National Security Agency, the CIA and Israel’s military, has included the use of destructive software such as the Stuxnet virus to cause malfunctions in Iran’s nuclear-enrichment equipment.
The emerging details about Flame provide new clues to what is thought to be the first sustained campaign of cyber-sabotage against an adversary of the United States.
[Cyberwar]
E-War
By John Feffer, June 5, 2012
wbThe Pentagon has traditionally presented cyber war as “their hackers” against “our defenders.” Out there, especially in China, a faceless horde of anonymous computer users are arrayed against the United States in an updated version of the “yellow peril.” In 2010, the Pentagon complained publicly for the first time about the Chinese government deploying civilian hackers to go after U.S. targets. These cyber attacks date back at least to 1999 when, after NATO bombed the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, Chinese hackers launched a slew of “denial of service” attacks that, among other results, shut down the White House website for three days.
[Cyberwar]
Stuxnet was work of U.S. and Israeli experts, officials say
By Ellen Nakashima and Joby Warrick, Published: June 2
A damaging cyberattack against Iran’s nuclear program was the work of U.S. and Israeli experts and proceeded under the secret orders of President Obama, who was eager to slow that nation’s apparent progress toward building an atomic bomb without launching a traditional military attack, say current and former U.S. officials.
[Cyberwar] [Stuxnet]
Understanding cyberspace is key to defending against digital attacks
By Robert O’Harrow Jr., Published: June 3
Charlie Miller prepared his cyberattack in a bedroom office at his Midwestern suburban home.
Brilliant and boyish-looking, Miller has a PhD in math from the University of Notre Dame and spent five years at the National Security Agency, where he secretly hacked into foreign computer systems for the U.S. government. Now, he was turning his attention to the Apple iPhone.
At just 5 ounces and 4 1/2 inches long, the iPhone is an elegant computing powerhouse. Its microscopic transistors and millions of lines of code enable owners to make calls, send e-mail, take photos, listen to music, play games and conduct business, almost simultaneously. Nearly 200 million iPhones have been sold around the world.
The idea of a former cyberwarrior using his talents to hack a wildly popular consumer device might seem like a lark. But his campaign, aimed at winning a little-known hacker contest last year, points to a paradox of our digital age. The same code that unleashed a communications revolution has also created profound vulnerabilities for societies that depend on code for national security and economic survival.
[Cyberwar] [Double standards]
Ministry of Post and Telecommunications Denounces Lee Myung Bak Group's Smear Campaign
Pyongyang, May 18 (KCNA) -- The group of rat-like Lee Myung Bak, hordes of the worst traitors, is making its desperate efforts, sticking to its bad habit of escalating the confrontation with fellow countrymen.
The group is busy staging a new farce and smear campaign against the DPRK over the damage done by jamming.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications gave the following answer to the question put by KCNA in this regard on Friday:
[Cyberwar]
N.Korean GPS Jamming Threatens Passenger Planes
The instrument panel on a Jin Air passenger jet that took off from Chitose Airport in Japan's Hokkaido Prefecture on April 29 began to malfunction as the aircraft was landing at Incheon International Airport. The ground proximity warning came on even though the aircraft had not reached the landing strip.
The pilot immediately switched off the GPS and swerved the aircraft in another direction. It managed to land after circling the airport, but the malfunction could have led to a major accident. Three similar incidents occurred at Gimpo and Incheon airports since April 28, all of them due to North Korean GPS jamming signals.
According to the government, 667 aircraft were affected by North Korean GPS jamming signals since April 28. They include 618 Korean passenger planes, 48 foreign passenger planes, including 17 U.S., 10 Japanese and six Chinese, and one U.S. military aircraft.
[Cyberwar] [Buildup]
122 ships affected by suspected N. Korean GPS jamming
More than 120 ships, including Coast Guard vessels and a passenger boat, have reported malfunctions in their navigation systems since the apparent jamming of satellite signals by North Korea last week, maritime police said Friday.
According to the Coast Guard in Incheon, west of Seoul, a total of 122 ships were affected by the disruption to Global Positioning System (GPS) signals last Saturday. Among the vessels were eight patrol boats belonging to the Coast Guard, a passenger liner carrying 387 people and a petrol products carrier.
Fishing boats operating near the tense western maritime border with North Korea also reported errors in their navigation systems, although none of them led to accidents, Coast Guard officials said.
[Cyberwar] [Buildup]
N.Korea Tries to Jam S.Korean Air Traffic
North Korea has been trying to disrupt air and ground traffic in the South for the fifth day running, the government said Wednesday. Aircraft taking off or landing in the Seoul metropolitan area and ships traveling off the west coast have been affected by electronic jamming signals from the North since Saturday.
The Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs said that the GPS of a total of 272 airplanes had been disrupted as of 3:10 p.m. on Wednesday. They were taking off or landing at Incheon and Gimpo airports and flying over Osan and Taean, chiefly in the central region.
The signals have been disrupted since the North threatened on April 23 to take "special actions" against the South.
[Cyberwar] [Asymmetry]
From the ZX Spectrum to Apple II: 80s computers in pictures
It's 30 years since the Sinclair ZX Spectrum was launched as an affordable home computer for the masses. Here's a selection of classic computers we came to know and love – from basic gaming machines to those you could program in BASIC, beginning with the ZX80
North Korea skimps on English website
By Kim Young-jin
North Korea’s massive spending on weapons is apparently causing the regime to skimp on overseas promotion, as reports say its official English-language website was redesigned using a $15 template.
Michael DiTanna, a student at Fordham University, was researching the North’s media when he discovered that korea-dpr.com was based on a template from Blender, an open-source computer graphics software product.
DiTanna noticed it had recently been given a facelift, but that designers had not thoroughly hidden the source code, providing clues to its origin.
{media][Spin]
DPRK Premier Visits Electronic and Technological Product Research Institute
Pyongyang, April 9 (KCNA) -- DPRK Premier Choe Yong Rim on Sunday learned about work at the Electronic and Technological Product Research Institute on the spot.
The institute succeeded in manufacturing a cutting-edge welder by intensifying its researches to mark the centenary of the birth of President Kim Il Sung with big scientific and technological achievements.
The new type direct current welder is very efficient, though low in production cost and load. It has been introduced into various fields of the national economy including the construction site of Tanchon Port. It is popular for its advantages.
U.S. accelerating cyberweapon research
By Ellen Nakashima, Published: March 19The Washington Post The Pentagon is accelerating efforts to develop a new generation of cyberweapons capable of disrupting enemy military networks even when those networks are not connected to the Internet, according to current and former U.S. officials.
[Cyberwar]
Pyongyang University of Science and Technology
Welcome from Dr James Chin-Kyung Kim, Founding President and Co-Chairman
Thank you for your interest in Pyongyang University of Science and Technology (PUST). PUST will be North Korea's first full-fledged institution of higher education founded and operated by groups and individuals primarily from the United States, South Korea, and China, but from many other parts of the world as well.
PUST is an experiment to determine if it is possible to train generations of North Korean students-who have been shielded from many international influences-in the technical skills and knowledge required to make positive contributions to a global community undergoing rapid and constant change. PUST will also encourage the students to become aware of the cultural influences that create the differences in international thinking.
While the skills to be taught are technical in nature, the spirit underlying this historic venture is unabashedly Christian.
Chinese Hacking May Slow, But...
Author: Adam Segal, Ira A. Lipman Senior Fellow for Counterterrorism and National Security Studies
February 21, 2012
SC Magazine
By now, the process is almost routine. A major technology or defense company announces a serious security breach and suspicion quickly falls on China-based attackers. While U.S. officials have been coy about naming the culprit, preferring to say only that a nation-state was most likely behind the attacks, they have recently been more willing to raise the heat on Beijing by calling China out. So far, this naming and shaming does not seem to have had any effect on the calculus of Chinese hacking, and this is unlikely to change in the near-term. As a result, companies will have to continue to remain vigilant and take defense into their own hands.
The motivations for Chinese hacking are not mysterious. Government officials there are unhappy with China being the "factory to the world" – it is labor- and energy-intensive and damages the environment – and desperately want to move the country into higher-value sectors. To do this, China has significantly ramped up research-and-development spending, but it has also relied on foreign industrial espionage directed at high-tech companies. Hackers have also targeted the negotiation strategies and financial information of energy and banking companies.
Some types of hacking also act as a societal release valve, venting nationalistic feelings. Chinese officials, for example, turned a blind eye when hackers defaced the Nobel Foundation website after rights activist Liu Xiaobo won the Nobel Peace Prize in October 2010. Finally, open-source Chinese defense writings stress the importance of cyber attacks – both in the opening stage of a military conflict and as a deterrent to "outside powers."
[Cyberespionage]
CIA's website taken down by hackers: media
Globaltimes.cn | February 13, 2012 09:47
Websites of US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Alabama state government were taken down by hackers on Friday, reports indicated.
According to a message left Friday on Twitter page affiliated with the hacking group known as Anonymous, hackers have taken down the CIA website. "CIA TANGO DOWN: https://www.cia.gov/ #Anonymous." it reads.
Local news outlets have reported the incident, and attempts to log onto the CIA site have failed late Friday afternoon. CIA spokeswoman Jennifer Youngblood was quoted as saying they are "looking into these reports."
Other than the CIA, hackers also compromised sites affiliated with the Alabama state government. The Alabama Department of Homeland Security said in a news release that they are "aware of the current situation regarding individual(s) claiming responsibility for hacking into a state of Alabama ... public website."
It was not clear at the moment which Alabama website was hacked. It is reported that hackers targeted Alabama government in response to its tough immigration law. [Cyberactivism]
NK mobile-phone users spend $13.9 a month
North Korean mobile-phone users spend an average of $13.9(about 16,000won) a month on calls and text messages, and they tend to pay in hard currency, a British business weekly reported in its Feb. 11-17 edition.
.
The Economist introduced the rapid spreading of mobile phones in the reclusive communist country with a phone of young women who are deeply engaged in sending text messages in a photo.
[Mobiles]
1 Million N.Koreans Now Have Mobile Phones
More than 1 million North Koreans have subscribed to mobile phone services, the exclusive mobile operator Orascom Telecom said Thursday. The number crossed the 1 million mark about three years after a joint venture called Koryolik was set up, with 75 percent owned by the Egyptian provider and 25 percent by Post Office.
[Mobile] [IJV]
N. Korea steps up efforts to develop smartphone apps
North Korea is stepping up efforts to develop smartphone applications, a move that underscores its commitment not to be left behind in the fast moving world of information technology.
Choe Hyok-chol, a North Korean professor, said research projects are under way to introduce Android smartphones, according to a video clip posted on YouTube.
He explained a bar code application on Android smartphones has improved the time it takes to recognize information contained in bar codes. The video appears to have been recorded on Oct. 27 when the North held an exhibition on programs.
Israel rattled as hackers hit bourse, banks, El Al
Mon Jan 16, 2012 10:53am EST
* Deputy foreign minister sees bid to "silence" Israel
* Attacks deepen jitters after credit card data theft (Recasts with Israeli ministers, banks, Hamas praise)
By Maayan Lubell
JERUSALEM, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Hackers disrupted online access to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, El Al Airlines and three banks on Monday in what the government described as a cyber-offensive against Israel.
The attacks came just days after an unidentified hacker, proclaiming Palestinian sympathies, posted the details of thousands of Israeli credit card holders and other personal information on the Internet in a mass theft.
Stock trading and El Al flights operated normally despite the disruption, which occurred as Israeli media reported that pro-Palestinian hackers had threatened at the weekend to shut down the TASE stock exchange and airline Web sites.
While apparently confined to areas causing only limited inconvenience, the attacks have caused particular alarm in a country that depends on high-tech systems for much of its defence against hostile neighbours. Officials insist, however, that they pose no immediate security threat.
[Cyberwar] [Asymmetry]
NK suspected of trying to hack into Seoul university
North Korea is suspected of masterminding last year's attempt to hack into the e-mail accounts of a Seoul university's graduate school alumni, school officials said Tuesday.
The Graduate School of Information Security at Korea University said it has conducted a joint investigation with intelligence authorities to track the origins of the hacking attempt, upon learning that an e-mail carrying malicious codes was sent to some of its graduates via its internal e-mail accounts last November.
"The e-mail was found to have been sent from a server based in Taiwan often used by North Korea," a school official said, declining to be identified.
[Cyberwar] [Media] [Evidence]
Cyber War: Reality or Hype?:Ramping Up the China Threat
by CONN HALLINAN
During his confirmation hearings this past June, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta warned the Senate, “The next Pearl Harbor we confront could very well be a cyber attack that cripples our grid, our security systems, our financial systems, our governmental systems.” It was powerful imagery: a mighty fleet reduced to smoking ruin, an expansionist Asian power at the nation’s doorstep.
[China confrontation] [Cyberwar] [Cyberespionage] [Inversion]
U.S. Homes In on China Spying
Probe Pinpoints Groups of Hackers and Ties Most to Military; Officials Prepare to Confront Beijing.
By SIOBHAN GORMAN
WASHINGTON—U.S. intelligence agencies have pinpointed many of the Chinese groups responsible for cyberspying in the U.S., and most are sponsored by the Chinese military, according to people who have been briefed on the investigation.
.Armed with this information, the U.S. has begun to lay the groundwork to confront China more directly about cyberspying. Two weeks ago, U.S. officials met with Chinese counterparts and warned China about the diplomatic consequences of economic spying, according to one person familiar with the meeting.
[Cyberespionage] [China confrontation]
Disruptions: Fliers Must Turn Off Devices, but It’s Not Clear Why
By NICK BILTON| November 27, 2011, 6:28 pm41
.Millions of Americans who got on a plane over the Thanksgiving holiday heard the admonition: “Please power down your electronic devices for takeoff.”
And absolutely everyone obeyed. I know they did because no planes fell from the sky. No planes had to make an emergency landing because the avionics went haywire. No planes headed for Miami ended up in Anchorage. We were all made safe because we all turned off all our Kindles, iPads, iPhones, BlackBerrys and laptops, just as the Federal Aviation Administration told us to. Realistically speaking, I’m going to bet that a handful of people on each flight could not be bothered, or forgot to comply.
The pervasive cyberthreat that goes unchallenged
By Jack Goldsmith, Published: November 26
A recent Defense Department report to Congress warned that foreign nations run a “grave risk” if they threaten or launch a large-scale cyberattack on the United States, and it announced for the first time that the Pentagon possesses cyberweapons the president can deploy in the face of such an attack. The report aims to bolster U.S. deterrence against cyberthreats but, in fact, highlights weaknesses in our deterrence policy.
The Pentagon’s threat applies to “significant” cyberattacks. It does not purport to deter small-scale ones. Nor does it address “cyber exploitations” that — in contrast to cyberattacks, which damage or disrupt a computer system — copy or steal information on a computer system. Cyber exploitations of valuable government and business secrets are vastly more pervasive than cyberattacks and, at present, are a more serious national security threat. They are also significant because they often cannot be distinguished from cyberattacks, at least until an attack begins. Passivity in the face of cyber exploitations thus encourages cyberattacks.
The government has not done much in response to foreign cyber exploitations because the United States itself engages in them extensively abroad and because cyber exploitations do not violate international law, and thus would not justify a large-scale military response, kinetic or cyber.
[Cyberwar] [Asymmetry]
Can Mobile Phone Use Bring Changes to N.Korea?
In 2002, North Korea formed a joint venture with a Thai company and began mobile phone services at the Rajin-Sonbon special economic zone. But the service was stopped after pieces of a mobile phone were found among debris recovered from an explosion at Yongchon Station in 2004. The regime feared mobile phones were used either to detonate the explosives or to communicate between bombers.
[Mobiles] [Assassination]
Pentagon: Cyber offense part of U.S. strategy
By Ellen Nakashima, Published: November 16
The Pentagon is prepared to launch cyberattacks in response to hostile actions that threaten the government, military or U.S. economy, according to a new policy document submitted to Congress this week.
[Cyberwar]
N.Korea 'Hacked E-Mails of Computer Security Boffins'
The National Intelligence Service has concluded that North Korea was behind a hacking attack on the e-mail accounts of 27 alumni of Korea University's Graduate School of Information Security.
"Analysis of the malware used to hack into the e-mail accounts confirmed that it is identical to malicious codes spread by North Korea," an NIS official said Wednesday. "We have tentatively concluded that North Korean hackers were behind the attack and are tracking the source."
The NIS is conducting a joint investigation with the police.
The malware is spread attached to Korean-language files and automatically saved on a computer when the file is opened. It is activated when the attachment is opened, and the data and e-mail stored in the computer are automatically transmitted to the hacker.
The reason North Korea tried to hack into the e-mail accounts is because most of the school's graduates get jobs either at the Defense Ministry, NIS or other government security agency, intelligence officials believe.
[Cyberwar]
North Korea: An Up-and-Coming IT-Outsourcing Destination
By Paul Tjia
European companies are increasingly outsourcing IT-related projects to low-cost countries such as India, China, Vietnam or the Philippines. North Korea also wants to be an outsourcing destination, and has specific advantages. The combination of very low tariffs, combined with a high level of quality, is its main attraction. Various local service providers, mainly headquartered in Pyongyang, are offering software development services or other IT-related services to foreign clients. Language is not a barrier for international collaboration: in the world of IT, English is already the common language. The North Korean government would like to see this export sector grow, and welcomes international IT collaboration, especially with Europeans.
[ICT] [Offshoring]
Israel defense sector hit by cyberattack
Published: Nov. 8, 2011 at 1:51 PM
TEL AVIV, Israel, Nov. 8 (UPI) -- Israel's military and intelligence services Web sites crashed for several hours last weekend in what appeared to be a cyberattack, an event that carried the potential of crippling the computer systems of the country's high-tech defense industry.
The Haaretz daily reported Monday that the shutdown was the "biggest computer crash in the history of Israel's online government."
The Web sites of the armed forces, the Mossad foreign intelligence agency and the General Security Service, Israel's internal security branch known as Shin Bet, and several government ministries broke down Sunday.
Authorities denied there had been a cyberattack and blamed a "malfunction" in "the IBM-manufactured storage component" of the government computer system.
The sites were down for several hours.
There was skepticism about the official explanation because the breakdown occurred just days after Anonymous, a shadowy group of global hackers and online activists, threatened to retaliate against Israel for its maritime blockade of the economically crippled Gaza Strip.
[Cyberwar]
Cyber warfare: A different way to attack Iran's reactors
By Atika Shubert, CNN
November 8, 2011 -- Updated 1713 GMT (0113 HKT) |
The inside of a uranium conversion facility is seen March 30, 2005 near the city of Isfahan, south of the Iranian capital Tehran.STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Israel abuzz with talk of potential for pre-emptive strike on Iran's nuclear facilities
Western diplomats say IAEA report says Iran able to design and build nuclear weapon
Iran's nuclear facilities have also come under attack from cyber attacks
One such attack by Stuxnet virus able to penetrate Iran's Natanz nuclear facility
(CNN) -- A report expected this week from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has Israel abuzz with talk of the potential for a pre-emptive strike on Iran's nuclear facilities.
Western diplomats have told CNN that the report says Iran has mastered the critical steps necessary to design and build a nuclear weapon.
Missiles are not, of course, the only way to launch an attack.
Iran's nuclear facilities are under siege from cyber attacks. And one, the Stuxnet virus, was able to penetrate Iran's Natanz nuclear facility, researchers say.
How did it work?
Israel debates strike against Iran Stuxnet was stealthy. The Natanz computer network is a closed system, separated from any other network or internet access. So, Stuxnet infected a third party first, likely a trusted contractor to the Natanz facility. That contractor may then have unknowingly passed on the virus by plugging in an infected removable drive into the computers inside the Natanz facility.
More importantly, Stuxnet was smart. It knew exactly what it was looking for: A specific software called Step 7 used specifically to run the Siemens controllers operating at Natanz.
[Cyberwar] [Stuxnet]
North Korea’s Digital Transformation: Implications for North Korea Policy
By Peter Hayes, Scott Bruce and Dyana Mardon
November 8, 2011
This essay reviews the implications of the introduction and deepening of information technology in North Korea in light of the unique social structure and state controls over information flow and individual behavior found in the DPRK. It expands upon and extrapolates from the NAPSNet Special Report “North Korea on the Cusp of Digital Transformation” by Alexander Mansourov published November 1, 2011.
After first reviewing North Korea’s control systems and social structure, we speculate as to some of the possible levels and leverage points at which rupture in the existing regime could occur—both decentralized, and centralized. In both instances, we suggest that cell phones, the Internet, and the DPRK Intranet will not be the basis of such challenges to state and personal power of the Kim regime. Rather, these changes would take place based on preexisting personal and kin networks of trust, which might be facilitated by changes in information technology, but not based on new networks created by the use of cell phones or Inter/Intranet.
Finally, we suggest three possible approaches to increase the impact of these IT developments in the DPRK. The first is to try to “cyber-circumvent” state controls and to stimulate dissent and uprising from below—a strategy which could risk increasing political repression in the DPRK.
[ICT] [Subversion]
A Precursor to War? As Washington Renews Military Threats Against Iran, Cyber Attacks Escalate
by Tom Burghardt
Global Research, November 6, 2011
Antifascist Calling...
As evidence mounts that the U.S. secret state is launching cyber weapons against official enemies, while carrying out wide-ranging spy ops against their "friends," Gen. Keith Alexander, the dual-hatted overlord of the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command, says that the Obama administration is "working on a system" that will "help" ISPs thwart malicious attacks.
Speaking at the Security Innovation Network (SINET) "Showcase 2011" shindig at the National Press Club in Washington, Alexander told security grifters eager to gouge taxpayers for another piece of lucrative "cybersecurity" pie: "What I'm concerned about are the destructive attacks. Those are the things yet to come that cause us a lot of concern."
That's rather rich coming from the head of a secretive Pentagon satrapy suspected of designing and launching the destructive Stuxnet virus which targeted Iran's civilian nuclear program.
According to fresh evidence provided by IT security experts it now appears that the same constellation of shadowy forces which unleashed Stuxnet are at it again with the newly discovered Duqu spy Trojan.
In a follow-up analysis, Kaspersky Lab researcher Alex Gostev wrote that "the highest number of Duqu incidents have been recorded in Iran. This fact brings us back to the Stuxnet story and raises a number of issues."
Not least of which is the continuing demonization of the Islamic Republic by an unholy alliance of U.S. militarists, their Israeli pit bulls and congressional shills hyping the "Iran threat."
Pentagon planners now believe that attack tools have reached the point where blinding Iran's air defenses while sowing chaos across population centers with power outages and the shutdown of financial services may now be a viable option.
[Cyberwar] [Iran] [Assassination]
Former US official says cyber weaknesses should deter US from waging war on other nations
(Markus Schreiber/Associated Press) - In this Feb. 19, 2010 photo, Richard A. Clarke, a former advisor to the president for security, attends a news conference of the film “S.O.S. - State of Security” at the International Film Festival Berlinale in Berlin. Clarke says America’s computer systems are so vulnerable to attack that it should deter U.S. leaders from going to war with other nations.
By Associated Press, Tuesday, November 8, 10:30 AM
WASHINGTON — America’s critical computer networks are so vulnerable to attack that it should deter U.S. leaders from going to war with other nations, a former top U.S. cybersecurity official said Monday.
Richard Clarke, a top adviser to three presidents, joined a number of U.S. military and civilian experts in offering a dire assessment of America’s cybersecurity at a conference, saying the country simply can’t protect its critical networks.
Clarke said if he was advising the president he would warn against attacking other countries because so many of them — including China, North Korea, Iran and Russia — could retaliate by launching devastating cyberattacks that could destroy power grids, banking networks or transportation systems.
[Asymmetry] [Cyberwar]
US takes aim at China and Russia over cyber-attacks
By Geoff Dyer in Washington and Joseph Menn in San Francisco
Massive cyber-espionage by China and Russia poses “significant and growing threats” to American economic power and national security, US officials have charged in their most direct warning on the issue.
In an unusually blunt public document, US intelligence officials said the two geopolitical rivals had launched an onslaught of internet-enabled spying on US companies to win bargaining power and trade secrets.
The claims were made in a report to Congress prepared by leading US intelligence agencies.
[Cyberwar] [China confrontation][Espionage]
North Korea on the cusp of digital transformation,
Introduction
North Korea has an underdeveloped telecommunications sector, but its government now
demonstrates increasing interest in catching up with the modern IT development trends, and its
population reveals insatiable demand for more robust and extensive telecommunications services.
As a laggard in the global digital revolution, Pyongyang enjoys key advantages of backwardness
– dramatic savings on initial R&D costs in the IT sector, the opportunity to leap-frog from
exclusive reliance on obsolete and scarce landlines (which carry traditional telephone traffic for a
meager 1.1 million customers in a country of 24.5 million people) to world-class 3G mobile
communications, which gained almost 700,000 users in less than three years of operation, as well
as some access, albeit restricted, to the leading open source IT technologies, software, hardware,
and multimedia content. Its telecommunications market is still very small, stove-piped, noncompetitive,
and highly regulated by the oppressive government placing a premium on regime
security as opposed to consumer demand and the developing tastes of its population.
[ICT] [Context]
Orascom’s Internet Service in North Korea
Geoffrey | Sunday, October 16th, 2011
On my last trip to Pyongyang, I had the opportunity to catch up with some Egyptian expatriates from Orascom Telecom Holding over popcorn and whiskey. They were also kind enough to bring our team clubbing into the wee hours of morning
[FDI][Mobiles] [Orascom]
Koryolink sees another record quarter
Koryolink, North Korea’s only 3G network operator, added a record number of subscribers in the second quarter of 2011, but the company will have to push harder if it’s to reach a million users by the end of the year.
The company ended the quarter with 666,517 subscribers, according to Orascom Telecom. Egypt’s Orascom holds a 75 percent stake in Cheo Technology, which operates the service under the Koryolink brand name. The remaining 25 percent stake is held by the government-owned Korea Posts and Telecommunications Co. (KPTC).
[FDI][Mobiles] [Orascom]
Chinese army mobilises cybermilitias
By Kathrin Hille in Beijing
Nanhao Group is, in many ways, an ordinary technology company. Its staff make online scoring systems, exam-mark scanners and other educational hardware and software.
But many of its 500 employees in Hengshui, just south-west of Beijing, have a second job. Since 2005 Nanhao has been home to a cybermilitia unit organised by the People’s Liberation Army.
[Cyberwar] [China confrontation] [Media]
Seoul's Makeshift Answer to N.Korean Jamming Attacks
The government has vowed to come up with solutions after North Korea jammed of South Korean GPS signals in August 2010 and March this year, but the only steps it has come up with so far is to wrap the antennae in household tin foil.
According to data obtained by ruling Grand National Party lawmaker Lee Cheol-woo from the Korea Communications Commission and mobile providers, they simply wrapped scores of GPS antennae used in their services northwest of Seoul in tin foil.
Some antennae on top of buildings were moved down lower or behind buildings. Others were simply tilted to face the ground. But experts say while these makeshift methods were able to avoid North Korean jamming signals, they may also have hindered normal GPS signals, cutting off phone calls or leading to errors in locating a user's position.
The North jammed South Korean GPS signals during joint U.S.-South Korean military drills. The South lacks the technology to single out the jamming signals and block them, so any attempt to do so would currently only lead to the blocking of commercial signals as well, experts said.
[Cyberwar] [Buildup]
Military Accused of Blunder in Building High-Tech Bunker
A lawmaker on Tuesday accused the military of blunders in building a bunker that can withstand an attack from a so-called electromagnetic pulse bomb, a kind of Bigfoot of warfare supposedly able to paralyze all electronic equipment. According to data the Defense Acquisition Program Administration and the Agency for Defense Development submitted to Grand National Party lawmaker Chung Mi-kyung on Tuesday, construction of the bunker has been underway since July last year.
The company hired by the military has outsourced construction to a subcontractor, but the lawmaker claimed neither firm has the capability to build protective facilities against the hypothetical EMP bomb, or against an equally hypothetical "high-altitude electromagnetic pulse" produced by a nuclear weapon. The lawmaker said the military failed to assess the contractors' capability.
[Military balance] [Buildup]
Seoul defenseless against Pyongyang’s electronic attack
Major military facilities in South Korea, including the defense ministry, are defenseless against potential North Korean electronic attacks, reports showed Tuesday.
According to the Agency for Defense Development (ADD) and the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), no technology exists in South Korea that can fend off electromagnetic pulse (EMP) bombs from North Korea. The two agencies submitted reports to Grand National Party (GNP) lawmaker Chung Mee-kyung during the annual parliamentary audit into defense agencies.
EMP bombs are known to jam and damage high-tech defense systems, such as radars and communication networks.
[Cyberwar] [Buildup] [MISCOM]
'N. Korean hackers attacked ministry 41 times'
By Lee Tae-hoon
North Korea has attempted to hack the websites of the Ministry of Health and Welfare and its affiliates 41 times this year alone, up from 11 last year, a lawmaker of the ruling party said Tuesday
[Cyberwar] [Buildup]
NK's cyber attacks on S. Korean gov't offices on steep rise: lawmaker
North Korea's attempts to hack the Web sites of South Korea's health ministry and its related organizations are on a steep increase as the information obtained from such organizations could greatly benefit the communist state, a lawmaker said Tuesday.
[Cyberwar] [Buildup]
Kim Jong-il inspects DVD factory: report
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and his son, heir-apparent Kim Jong-un, have inspected a newly-built factory producing DVDs in Pyongyang, the North's state-run news agency said Saturday.
While touring the Mokran Video Company, the leader praised the workers and technicians of the company and related officials for "successfully building a DVD factory in a brief span of time," the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.
NK’s embrace of technology double-edged sword
By Kim Young-jin
North Korea’s growing use of information technology is a double-edged sword, experts suggested Friday, as citizens there see greater access to mobile phones and other technology.
The isolated state, which blocks its people from accessing outside information, has in recent years developed an internal intranet system and now has over 600,000 subscribers to its 3G mobile phone network.
On the other hand, Evgeny Morozov, a liberation technology expert at Stanford University, said if Pyongyang learns lessons from fallen authoritarian regimes in the Middle East, it could actually benefit from the use of such devices.
“If they are smart, strategic and technologically savvy, they may be able to use them for their own purposes,” he said, adding that such a perspective was important so that concerned parties could help block such abuses by the repressive state.
He said technology provides new means of surveillance, noting that mobile phones are easy to tap and that repressive Iran closely watches for people trying to access banned websites.
[ICT] [Surveillance] [Double standards]
N.Korea Steps Up Hacker Attacks on S.Korean Firms
North Korea attempts up to 250 million indiscriminate cyber attacks on government agencies and private corporations in South Korea per day, said an official with the National Cyber Security Center under the National Intelligence Service last Thursday.
"In the past, the North focused its cyber terrorist attacks on major government agencies, but it has recently been expanding attacks on the civilian sector, including finance, aviation, transportation, and electric power," the official added.
He urged private corporations to invest more in cyber security and wake up to the dangers of failing to protect themselves.
The NIS says the North attacks private corporations indirectly by hacking computers controlled by staffers of private firms that maintain and repair their computer systems.
A typical example was the paralysis of computer systems at the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation, also known as Nonghyup, in April. At the time, the computer of an IBM Korea staffer who maintained Nonghyup's computer systems was hacked by a North Korean unit.
The NIS has a great number of technologies to detect intrusions, but the North's hacking skills are improving by the day, it warned.
An NIS officer said the North's General Bureau of Reconnaissance has about 1,000 hackers who can create malicious computer codes and avoid detection.
[Cyberwar]
Suspected North Korean cyberattack on a bank raises fears for S. Korea, allies
By Chico Harlan and Ellen Nakashima, Tuesday, August 30, 1:06 AM
SEOUL — After nearly half of the servers for a South Korean bank crashed one day in April, investigators here found evidence indicating that they were dealing with a new kind of attack from an old rival: North Korea.
South Korean officials said that 30 million customers of the Nonghyup agricultural bank were unable to use ATMs or online services for several days and that key data were destroyed, making it the most serious of a series of incidents in recent months. But even more troubling was the prospect that a belligerent neighbor had acquired the tools to disrupt one of the world’s most heavily wired nations — and that even more damaging attacks could be in store.
59
These six companies have fallen victim to major cyber attacks in recent months.
?From government agencies to international organizations and firms, a variety of entities have been victims of cyberattacks that analysts say originated in China.
More on this Story
Cyber warfare offers North Korea easy, relatively cheap offensive tool
.“This was an unprecedented act of cyberterror involving North Korea,” said Kim Young-dae, a senior South Korean prosecutor in charge of the investigation.
Conclusively identifying who ordered a cyberattack is notoriously difficult. But Western analysts who studied the incident agreed that the aggressor was probably North Korea and described it as the first publicly reported case of computer sabotage by one nation against a financial institution in another country.
[Cyberwar] [Media]
N. Korea turns to Facebook amid tourism push
By Kim Young-jin
North Korea, the secretive regime that regularly delivers bombastic threats and insults to its enemies, is tinkering with a different approach to promote its flagship airline: cordial customer service via the Internet.
In fact, the Facebook page for Air Koryo is downright user-friendly and even engages in witty repartee with visitors. This from the country that threatens to turn Seoul into a “sea of flames” and dubs politicians here “swollen headed traitors.”
The page is grabbing attention around the world among intrepid travelers, airplane enthusiasts and even South Koreans, the latter of who get a rare peek _ at least for now _ at a North Korea-operated page through the popular social networking site (SNS). Over 2,000 people have “liked” it.
[Tourism]
State-media video candidly depicts China’s developing cyber-weaponry
By Ellen Nakashima and William Wan, Wednesday, August 24, 7:48 PM
Viewers of China Central Television got an unusual glimpse last month of that nation’s offensive cyber-capabilities: A video clip showed a military computer program on which an unseen user selects a “target” — in this case, a Falun Gong Web site based in Alabama — and hits a button labeled “attack.”
The video amounted to just six seconds in a state media documentary called “The Cyber Storm Has Arrived!” But it offered an uncommonly candid depiction of cyber-weaponry developed by a country that is routinely accused of mounting attacks and just as routinely issues fervent denials.
From government agencies to international organizations and firms, a variety of entities have been victims of cyberattacks that analysts say originated in China.
.Later in the documentary, Col. Du Wenlong, a researcher at China’s top military research institute, argues that the country’s ability to attack and to defend its networks “must be interwoven.” He adds, “To keep up with the pace of virtual technology, we must increase our fighting ability.”
[Cyberwar] [China confrontation]
N.Korea Denies Hacking Allegations
North Korea has denied allegations by South Korea that it engaged in a computer hacking scheme to steal millions of dollars from online gaming sites.
The North's official Korean Central News Agency said Sunday that the accusations are an unacceptable provocation meant to smear Pyongyang's image overseas.
South Korean police recently arrested five suspects they say were recruited to work in China alongside more than 30 hackers from North Korea. The hackers allegedly broke into gaming sites and stole gaming points worth around $6 million.
Police in Seoul said some of the money went to the North Korean government.
The North has been accused several times in recent years of mounting cyber attacks on the South. Pyongyang has denied all the allegations.
[Cyberwar]
North Korea denies South Korean hacking claims as ‘unacceptable provocation’
By Associated Press, Updated: Sunday, August 14, 9:36 AM
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea has denied allegations by South Korea that it engaged in a hacking scheme to steal millions of dollars from online gaming sites.
The North’s Committee for Peaceful Unification of the Fatherland said in a statement carried Sunday by the official Korean Central News Agency that the allegations were an unacceptable provocation and were meant to sully North Korea’s image overseas.
Last week, South Korean police said they arrested five people who had collaborated with elite North Korean hackers in a ring that pocketed about $6 million over the past year and a half.
South Korean authorities have also accused North Korea of mounting cyberattacks in the past few years. The North has also denied those charges.
[Buildup] [Cyberwar]
China Says It Was Hit by 500,000 Cyberattacks
China says it was targeted in 500,000 cyberattacks last year, with the majority originating from foreign countries.
A Chinese monitoring agency (National Computer Network Emergency Response Coordination Center) says most of the attacks came in the form of Trojan horse software that installs itself on vulnerable computers.
According to the report, 15 percent of the attacks were traced to IP addresses in the United States and eight percent to those in India.
[Cyberwar] [China confrontation]
Global Showbiz Firms Love Pororo the Penguin
The Korean animation character Pororo the little penguin is catching the eyes of many global entertainment companies, with one reportedly offering Ocon, the show's producer, as much as W1 trillion for the goggle-wearing bird (US$1=W1,059).
Of the first 52 episodes, 22 were made by North Korea-based subcontractor Samcholli General Corp. Having aired three seasons so far, the show has become popular around the world and is being exported to over 110 countries. In France, it saw viewer ratings of a whopping 52 percent on the country's largest terrestrial channel TF1.
[Joint Korean business] [Animation]
The role of cyber security in US-China relations
June 21st, 2011
Author: Adam Segal, CFR
Less than three weeks after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and three other cabinet members announced the International Strategy for Cyberspace, another incident has occurred between the United States and China.
[Cyberwar] [China confrontation]
Cell Phones All the Rage in Pyongyang
Mobile phone use is booming in Pyongyang, with senior Party officials and ordinary people alike using them on the streets of the reclusive North Korean capital these days, it was reported last week.
Even members of the public without any means of significant income are finding ways to buy the gadgets, RFA quoted a North Korean source as saying on Thursday.
According to the source, North Koreans must pay US$250-300 for a phone. This entitles them to 200 minutes of free calling time each month, after which their service is automatically cut off. They also get to send 20 free text messages every 30 days.
They can extend their service by using pre-paid phone cards, which can be purchased from local post offices. The basic monthly service charge is W2,850 (W1,000 in South Korea), or about US$1 according to the black market exchange rate. This is equivalent to one month's pay for most North Korean workers.
The source said the new feeding frenzy for cell phones has its roots in functionality and fashion. It is both a "symbol of wealth" and a "means of survival," he said. He gave the example of how officials are so engaged in earning hard currency that their phones never stop ringing as they field calls from businessmen on the Chinese side of the North Korean border.
Mobile phones are also proving popular with young North Koreans, who use the gadget to take photos, listen to songs and watch videos.
According to a report by Orascom Telecom, an Egyptian mobile service provider that operates North Korea's mobile network, the number of North Korean mobile phone subscribers stood at 535,000 as of late March, RFA added.
[Mobile]
Chinese hackers leaked classified gov't document: lawmaker
A classified government document, containing telephone conversations between South Korean and U.S. presidents, was leaked by Chinese hackers, an opposition lawmaker said Saturday.
"I received a report from the National Intelligence Service that a secret document written by the South Korean foreign ministry ahead of the Group of 20 (G-20) Summit in London in April 2009 was leaked to China," Rep. Shin Hak-yong of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) told Yonhap News Agency by phone.
[Cyberwar]
Chinese experts say Gmail hacking accusation evil-intentioned
Source: Xinhua [08:24 June 04 2011] Comments Google lacked evidence to support its accusations that Chinese hackers are behind the alleged cyber attacks on hundreds of its email accounts and the timing to make such accusations is evil-intentioned, Chinese experts said on Friday.
"Google's accusation is neither serious nor credible as it has not published any evidence that shows the hackers are from China," said Dai Yiqi, a cyber security expert with Tsinghua University.
Eric Grosse, engineering director of Google's Security Team wrote on the company blog Wednesday that unidentified hacker attacks likely originated from the eastern Chinese city of Jinan, tried to collect user passwords of the Gmail accounts of hundreds of users, including senior US government officials, Chinese "human rights activists" and journalists.
A report released in 2009 by the United States-China Economic and Security Review Commission, an organization created by the US Congress, claimed that Jinan is the home of a Chinese military reconnaissance office.
[Cyberwar]
N.Korean Phishing Attack on S.Korean Army Continues
The Defense Ministry said Thursday that North Korean hackers continued to send phishing e-mails to South Korean Army officers and the IP address from which the message were sent was also used in a hacker attack by North Korea in March.
"In some instances North Korean hackers used the e-mail service of Daum and other Internet portals and are sending phishing mail to military academy graduates," a Defense Ministry official said. "The IP address is based in China and North Korea is believed to be behind the scam."
Since May 26, military authorities have been sending out urgent notices warning officers not to open suspicious e-mail and have instructed them how to identify malicious mail. The ministry said it developed a vaccine to prevent the leak of classified information through phishing messages and has distributed it throughout the military.
[Cyberwar]
China rebuffs Google claims
Source: Global Times [01:52 June 03 2011] Comments By Li Qian
Beijing sharply rebuked Google on Thursday for its latest "groundless" claims that a recent hacking campaign targeting the Internet giant's e-mail service had originated from China.
This latest confrontation comes a year after Google stopped its activities on the Chinese mainland and blamed Beijing for facilitating cyber-attacks on its server. The matter was rejected by China but stirred trouble for already complex Sino-US relations.
In a blog post released Wednesday, Google revealed it had recently detected a hacking campaign to collect the passwords, likely through phishing, of hundreds of Gmail users, including senior US government officials, military personnel, journalists, Chinese activists and officials in several Asian countries, mainly South Korea.
The company did not officially lay the blame at the feet of Chinese authorities, but said the campaign had originated from Jinan, capital of Shandong Province, without offering any evidence.
[Cyberwar]
Google phishing: Chinese Gmail attack raises cyberwar tensions
Senior US and South Korean government officials plus Chinese activists have login details stolen
Share379 Charles Arthur, technology editor guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 1 June 2011 23.47 BST Article history
A Google employee in Seoul. South Korean government officials are among those who have had their Gmail login details stolen by Chinese hackers. Photograph: Truth Leem/Reuters
Tensions between the US, UK and China over the issue of cyber-attacks were set to escalate after it emerged that Chinese hackers have stolen the login details of hundreds of senior US and South Korean government officials as well as Chinese political activists.
Google said it had discovered and alerted hundreds of people who had been taken in by a carefully targeted "phishing" scam originating from Jinan, the capital of Shandong province. Hackers aimed to get complete control of users' email accounts on the Gmail system.
While there is no direct evidence that the hackers were in the pay of the Chinese government, the sophistication of the attacks and their highly targeted nature eliminates direct financial gain as a motive. Google did not rule out the possibility of the attack being state-sponsored.
[Cyberwar] [China confrontation]
List of cyber-weapons developed by Pentagon to streamline computer warfare
By Ellen Nakashima, Wednesday, June 1, 12:31 PM
The Pentagon has developed a list of cyber-weapons and -tools, including viruses that can sabotage an adversary’s critical networks, to streamline how the United States engages in computer warfare.
The classified list of capabilities has been in use for several months and has been approved by other agencies, including the CIA, said military officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe a sensitive program. The list forms part of the Pentagon’s set of approved weapons or “fires” that can be employed against an enemy.
.“So whether it’s a tank, an M-16 or a computer virus, it’s going to follow the same rules so that we can understand how to employ it, when you can use it, when you can’t, what you can and can’t use,” a senior military official said.
The integration of cyber-technologies into a formal structure of approved capabilities is perhaps the most significant operational development in military cyber-doctrine in years, the senior military official said.
The framework clarifies, for instance, that the military needs presidential authorization to penetrate a foreign computer network and leave a cyber-virus that can be activated later. The military does not need such approval, however, to penetrate foreign networks for a variety of other activities. These include studying the cyber-capabilities of adversaries or examining how power plants or other networks operate. Military cyber-warriors can also, without presidential authorization, leave beacons to mark spots for later targeting by viruses, the official said.
One example of a cyber-weapon is the Stuxnet worm that disrupted operations at an Iranian nuclear facility last year. U.S. officials have not acknowledged creating the computer worm, but many experts say they believe they had a role.
Under the new framework, the use of a weapon such as Stuxnet could occur only if the president granted approval, even if it were used during a state of hostilities, military officials said. The use of any cyber-weapon would have to be proportional to the threat, not inflict undue collateral damage and avoid civilian casualties
[Cyberwar][Stuxnet] [Unintended consequences]
N.Korea Hacks E-mails of S.Korean Officers
North Korea has obtained the names and e-mail addresses of most South Korean military officers and launched cyber attacks on the e-mail accounts of generals to steal sensitive information, a government source said Monday.
The Army Cyber Warfare Command last Friday issued an immediate alert to officers not to open suspicious e-mails. "There has been an increase in e-mails purporting to be messages from military academy alumni, but tracking them led to suspicions that they were sent by North Korean hackers," the source said.
[Cyberwar]
Washington moves to classify cyber-attacks as acts of war
Pentagon has concluded that the laws of armed conflict can be widened to embrace cyberwarfare
Share8 Ed Pilkington in New York guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 31 May 2011 21.15 BST Article history
The new strategy would adapt the existing right of self-defence contained in the UN charter by bringing cyberweapons under the definition of armed attacks. Photograph: Jim Young/Reuters
The US government is rewriting its military rule book to make cyber-attacks a possible act of war, giving commanders the option of launching retaliatory military strikes against hackers backed by hostile foreign powers.
The Pentagon has concluded that the laws of armed conflict can be widened to embrace cyberwarfare, in order to allow the US to respond with the use of force against aggressive assaults on its computer and IT infrastructure.
[Cyberwar][Double standards] [NSA] [Asymmetry]
Mobile Phone Subscriptions Soar in N.Korea
The number of mobile phone subscribers in North Korea has skyrocketed over the past year.
According to Orascom Telecom, an Egyptian mobile service provider that operates North Korea's mobile network, subscriptions there soared by a whopping 420 percent from 123,000 in March 2010 to 535,133 as of the end of March this year.
The company's revenues from the network also jumped by 185 percent from a year earlier to US$25.8 million.
However, in the first quarter of this year average monthly usage per person declined from 5 hours 11 minutes to 4 hours 30 minutes on-year. This shows that newer subscribers are being cautious about their communications, suggesting that mobile usage is expanding from mostly high-ranking officials to some rich people.
[Mobile] [Media]
'N. Korea's cyber army gets increasingly sophisticated'
South Korea’s intelligence agencies now believe that North Korea has the capability to "paralyze the U.S. Pacific Command and cause extensive damage to defense networks inside the United States,” Fox News reported Tuesday.
Among the most frequent visitors to U.S. military websites, according to the U.S. Defense Department, are computers traced to North Korea, the report said.
According to estimates from Washington and Seoul, their abilities rival those of the CIA, it said.
[Cyberwar] [Buildup]
N.Korea Denies Hacker Attack
North Korea on Tuesday vehemently denied South Korean allegations that it was behind a hacker attack on the computer network of agricultural lender Nonghyup. South Korean investigators have blamed North Korea's General Bureau of Reconnaissance, which oversees all espionage operations against South Korea.
But North Korea claims the charge is a "fabrication" by South Korea just like the sinking of the Navy corvette Cheonan in March last year. This is the first time that North Korea has expressly denied a cyber attack against South Korea. The North is also accused of being behind a couple of cyber attacks in July last year and March this year that paralyzed South Korean and U.S. websites, but has made no comment.
The North's official Korean Central News Agency carried a statement by the Ministry of the People's Armed Forces on Tuesday saying the charges by South Korean prosecutors are a fabrication "aimed at intensifying anti-North Korean sentiment in the South." It added cyber warfare tactics were originally developed by the U.S. in order to attack others without exposing itself and that such methods are "specialized forms of invasion by America."
[Buildup] [Cyberwar]
S.Korean Accused of Doing Business with N.Korean Hackers
Police are investigating charges that South Korean netizens profited from an online game hacking program they bought from North Korean hackers via ethnic Korean brokers in China. According to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, a 49-year-old man identified by his surname Im paid a large sum of money to a North Korean hacker unit believed to be based in Shenyang, China via an ethnic Korean broker and asked them to develop a hacking program for the online game "Lineage."
N.Korea's Highly Trained Hacker Brigades Rival CIA
North Korea's 1,000 or so hackers are as good as their CIA counterparts, experts believe. Due to difficulties in expanding its conventional weapons arsenal following the economic hardships during the 1990s, North Korea apparently bolstered electronic warfare capabilities.
The regime opened Mirim University, now renamed Pyongyang Automation University, in the mid-1980s to train hackers in electronic warfare tactics. A defector who graduated from Mirim University said classes were taught by 25 Russian professors from the Frunze Military Academy. They trained 100-110 hackers every year.
[Cyberwar] [Spin] [Buildup] [Asymmetry]
200 More Zombie Computers Discovered in Korea
Authorities have discovered 200 more so-called zombie computers that have been infected with viruses North Korean hackers planted in September last year. They came across them in the process of investigating the laptop computer of an IBM employee that was used to paralyze the computer network of agricultural cooperative lender Nonghyup.
Prosecutors said Monday that the National Intelligence Service identified 201 port numbers that have been infected with viruses so that they can serve as zombie computers, and the IBM employee's laptop is one of them. This means not only Nonghyup but any state agency could be the target of a North Korean cyber attack
[Cyberwar] [Spin] [Buildup]
Evidence Points to N.Korea in Hacker Attack on Bank
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il applauds during a visit to the General Bureau of Reconnaissance on April 25, 2010, a month after the sinking of the Navy corvette Cheonan. /[North] Korean Central News Agency-Yonhap A computer network breakdown on April 12 in agricultural cooperative lender Nonghyup was the result of a cyber attack North Korea's General Bureau of Reconnaissance prepared meticulously for more than seven months, a spokesman for the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office said Tuesday.
[Cyberwar] [Buildup]
Prosecutors: North Korean hackers responsible for cyber attack against South Korean bank
By Associated Press, Published: May 3
SEOUL, South Korea — South Korean prosecutors say hackers in North Korea hacked into the computer network of a South Korean bank last month.
Prosecutors say the cyber attack on the Nonghyup bank was meant to paralyze its system. They didn’t elaborate.
.They say the software used in the hacking was similar to that used in a 2009 attack against South Korean websites. South Korea also blamed North Korean hackers for that attack.
[Cyberwar] [Buildup] [Disinformation]
N.Korean Hackers Fingered in Cyber Attack on Bank
The Seoul Central District Prosecutor's Office has apparently concluded that North Korean hackers were behind a cyber attack on agricultural cooperative lender Nonghyup. The office believes hackers planted a virus in a laptop owned by an IBM Korea employee who was in charge of maintaining the computerized network at the lender, causing it to order the network to shut down.
[Cyberwar] [Buildup]
Probe Seeks N.Korean Hand in Bank Server Breakdown
The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office has discovered suspicious Internet protocol addresses of Chinese origin on a laptop owned by an employee of IBM Korea, the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation's network maintenance subcontractor, it said Tuesday. Prosecutors are probing a massive breakdown in the bank's computer system last week.
[Buildup] [Cyberwar]
Iran: Country under attack by second computer virus
By Thomas Erdbrink, Monday, April 25, 1:51 PM
TEHRAN — An Iranian military official said on Monday that the country has been attacked by a second computer virus, which he called part of a Western plan to sabotage Iran’s nuclear energy program.
The official Iranian Islamic Republic News Agency also reported Monday that a major 56-inch gas pipeline had exploded in the south of the country, a week after officials blamed two similar pipeline explosions on “acts of sabotage.” Authorities said pipe corrosion was apparently the cause of the Monday blast.
.The same pipeline, which connects Iran’s biggest gas field to its largest gas refinery, also exploded under unexplained circumstances last year, the news agency’s Web site reported. There have been nearly a dozen such incidents in the past 18 months.
The new virus, which the Iranians have labeled an “espionage virus” called “Stars,” follows recent official acknowledgment that several nuclear facilities and industrial sites were targeted last year by the “Stuxnet virus,” which Iran blames on U.S. and Israeli intelligence services. Officials in both countries have declined to comment.
[Cyberwar]
Defense Minister Warns of N.Korean Cyber Attacks
South Korea should remain alert for the threat of North Korean cyber attacks on banking systems, Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin warned Thursday.
Kim was answering a question at at a press conference on Thursday about recent computer networking problems at the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation.
"We don't think that the North is to blame for the latest computer problems, but we can't underestimate its hacking capabilities," he said. However, he added there is "zero chance" that the Defense Ministry will come under hacker attack because it has its own Intranet.
Kim apparently made the remarks in view of the North Korean military's project to train a large number of professional hackers and boost cyber warfare capabilities, including attempts to destroy South Korea's banking networks.
The North attempted to disturb electromagnetic waves in the Seoul metropolitan area early this year and was also suspected of being behind so-called massive denial-of-service attacks targeting the websites of Cheong Wa Dae and other government agencies.
The North began training professional hackers in 1986 when it established Pyongyang Automation University, also known as Mirim University. Leader Kim Jong-il reportedly takes an interest in a specialist lab dubbed "No. 110 Research Institute." "Modern war is electronic warfare. Victory or defeat in a modern war depends on how to carry out electronic warfare," he had been quoted as saying.
[Cyberwar] [Finance]
Just a game? Homefront’s sick, stupid Korean invasion fantasy
By Aidan Foster-Carter
Not to know what you are talking about is pretty obviously a bad move. But it never stops some people, does it? And on this occasion, I’m not about to let it stop me. This has to be said. Venturing into unfamiliar terrain can be unwise, so I’m taking a risk here. But they started it, not me. There comes a time when real men must face down the foe and stand up for truth. (Aging academic adopts unconvincing Mel Gibson pose, ripping his jeans for added verisimilitude.)
[Media] [Bizarre] [China confrontation] [Camouflage]
How N.Korean Hackers Could Inflict Maximum Damage
The Korea Internet Security Center run by the Korea Internet and Security Agency monitors cyber attacks and hacking incidents targeting domestic websites around the clock. Friday's GPS jamming and cyber attacks, which are suspected to be the work of North Korea, have led to a flood of speculation among experts about possible future provocations by the North. Some now fear that it could resort simultaneous cyber attacks against South Korean power, traffic, communication, military and other state infrastructure.
South Korea's international security ambassador Nam Joo-hong said Pyongyang "is trying to prove its superiority in real space with nuclear weapons while boosting electronic warfare in cyber space." The North Korea has been training up a hacker squad since 1986.
[Cyberwar] [Buildup] [Asymmetry]
N.Korea Trains Up Hacker Squad
Concerns about North Korea's cyber warfare squads are resurfacing after Friday's cyber and GPS jamming attacks, which are being blamed on the North. Pyongyang began developing electronic warfare capabilities in 1986 when it founded Mirim University, the present-day Automation University, to train specialists.
A defector who graduated from the university recalled that 25 Russian professors were invited from the Frunze Military Academy in the former Soviet Union to give lectures, and some 100 to 110 hackers were trained there every year.
[Cyberwar] [Buildup]
Iranian Cyber Army Hacks into VOA Website
Tehran, February 25 (KCNA) -- The Iranian Cyber Army (ICA) Monday hacked into the website of the Voice of America (VOA), replacing its homepage with a message to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
"Mrs. Clinton, do you want to hear the voice of the oppressed nations' will from heart of USA? The Islamic world doesn't believe USA trickery. We call on you to stop interfering in Islamic countries," the message urged.
It said the move was made in response to the propaganda conducted by the websites that support the seditious movements in Iran.
[Cyberwar]
In the Valley of the Clueless
America’s Problematic Internet Strategy
I have an article up at Asia Times, US Internet Declaration Bugs China, about Secretary Clinton’s “freedom to connect” speech and its implications for China.
In this context, it is interesting to recall how middle class priorities can get repackaged as legal rights and essential human freedoms.
It’s a good article, though it includes some rather asinine speculation that the Iranian govenment might have murdered its own top nuclear scientists (using bombs delivered by motorcycle riders!) in order to remove security threats. I’m assuming this charade is meant to innoculate the Financial Times from the dangerous charge of humanizing the Iranian bogeyman.
Indeed, when you read about scientists being blow up in their cars next to their wives, or a country’s infrastructure being subjected to an undeclared, extralegal sabotage, one might feel a twinge of sympathy.
Also, the FT article raises an issue I’ve thought about: cyberwar blowback.
I would think there is a good possibility that Iran is allowing Chinese scientists to participate in the Stuxnet forensics, which means that China is familiarizing itself with the characteristics and capabilities of this kind of weapon for offensive as well as defensive purposes.
[Stuxnet] [Cyberwar] [Unintended consequences]
N.Korean Newspaper Launches Website
North Korea has launched the website of the official Rodong Sinmun daily on the occasion of leader Kim Jong-il's birthday, it emerged on Wednesday. Until recently, the North posted Rodong Sinmun articles on a propaganda website named "Uriminzokkiri."
The new website carries articles under various categories such as politics, economy, society, culture, and international news. One category is called "reunification." A brief history of the daily takes up the center of the homepage.
The North has been carrying out an aggressive online propaganda campaign, using its country domain name .kp. Experts speculate that it wants to make propaganda materials more accessible and stir up dissent in South Korea, where the site has been blocked.
[Human rights]
Egypt Leaders Found ‘Off’ Switch for Internet
By JAMES GLANZ and JOHN MARKOFF
Published: February 15, 2011
Epitaphs for the Mubarak government all note that the mobilizing power of the Internet was one of the Egyptian opposition’s most potent weapons. But quickly lost in the swirl of revolution was the government’s ferocious counterattack, a dark achievement that many had thought impossible in the age of global connectedness. In a span of minutes just after midnight on Jan. 28, a technologically advanced, densely wired country with more than 20 million people online was essentially severed from the global Internet.
The blackout was lifted after just five days, and it did not save President Hosni Mubarak. But it has mesmerized the worldwide technical community and raised concerns that with unrest coursing through the Middle East, other autocratic governments — many of them already known to interfere with and filter specific Web sites and e-mails — may also possess what is essentially a kill switch for the Internet.
Because the Internet’s legendary robustness and ability to route around blockages are part of its basic design, even the world’s most renowned network and telecommunications engineers have been perplexed that the Mubarak government succeeded in pulling the maneuver off
[ICT] [Double standards]
Iran's Natanz nuclear facility recovered quickly from Stuxnet cyberattack
By Joby Warrick
Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, February 15, 2011; 10:57 PM
VIENNA - In an underground chamber near the Iranian city of Natanz, a network of surveillance cameras offers the outside world a rare glimpse into Iran's largest nuclear facility. The cameras were installed by U.N. inspectors to keep tabs on Iran's nuclear progress, but last year they recorded something unexpected: workers hauling away crate after crate of broken equipment.
In a six-month period between late 2009 and last spring, U.N. officials watched in amazement as Iran dismantled more than 10 percent of the Natanz plant's 9,000 centrifuge machines used to enrich uranium. Then, just as remarkably, hundreds of new machines arrived at the plant to replace the ones that were lost.
The story told by the video footage is a shorthand recounting of the most significant cyberattack to date on a nuclear installation.
[Stuxnet] [Cyberwar] [IEAE]
Malware Was Aimed at Five Sites in Iran, Report Says
By JOHN MARKOFF
Published: February 11, 2011
The Stuxnet software worm repeatedly sought to infect five industrial facilities in Iran over a 10-month period, a new report says, in what could be a clue into how it might have infected the Iranian uranium enrichment complex at Natanz.
The report, released Friday by Symantec, a computer security software firm, said there were three waves of attacks. Liam O Murchu, a security researcher at the firm, said his team was able to chart the path of the infection because of an unusual feature of the malware: Stuxnet recorded information on the location and type of each computer it infected.
[Cyberwar]
IP Telephone Exchange Service System Developed
Pyongyang, January 27 (KCNA) -- The Information Center of Kim Il Sung University of the DPRK developed an IP telephone exchange service system.
The system ensures computer-to-computer conversation, computer-to-telephone conversation and telephone-to-telephone conversation. It also ensures a rapid and accurate message in any place outside.
It has various options, including video phone call and telephone meeting.
It makes it possible to use telephone, IP telephone and soft telephone.
[ICT]
Korean-style Computer Input Device Developed
Pyongyang, January 26 (KCNA) -- The Mathematics Institute of the State Academy of Sciences developed a Korean-style computer input device.
This is a new type one, a combination of existing computer input means including keyboard and pen.
Latest research successes made in the IT field were fully applied to this device. They include the technology of recognizing cursive letters, technology of applying latest embedded computer device, Korean-style peculiar new idea of computer input device and pen input style design.
The computer input device made of a keyboard, pen-input pad, pen and linking line is capable of making input by pen, as requested by a user, while almost retaining the method whereby input was made with the help of a keyboard. It makes easy to input various information such as pictures and numerical formula impossible or hard to input with the help of keyboard or mouse.
Why North Korea isn't fooling anyone with its new social media propaganda.
BY B.R. MYERS | JANUARY 13, 2011
In 2009 a North Korean propaganda video appeared on YouTube. In it, a college student in Pyongyang contrasted her own comfortable life with the miserable lot of the poor and homeless in Seoul. The video soon went viral in South Korea. This had more to do with the girl's natural good looks than her message, which was generally chuckled over. Still, the video's popularity seems to have encouraged Kim Jong Il to make more use of new media in his effort to influence South Korean public opinion. Last summer, the website Uriminzokkiri, already an outlet for Pyongyang's South-oriented propaganda, announced that the regime was launching a YouTube channel and a Twitter account as well. [MISCOM]
Israel Tests on Worm Called Crucial in Iran Nuclear Delay
By WILLIAM J. BROAD, JOHN MARKOFF and DAVID E. SANGER
Published: January 15, 2011
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran toured the Natanz plant in 2008.
The Dimona complex in the Negev desert is famous as the heavily guarded heart of Israel’s never-acknowledged nuclear arms program, where neat rows of factories make atomic fuel for the arsenal.
Over the past two years, according to intelligence and military experts familiar with its operations, Dimona has taken on a new, equally secret role — as a critical testing ground in a joint American and Israeli effort to undermine Iran’s efforts to make a bomb of its own.
Behind Dimona’s barbed wire, the experts say, Israel has spun nuclear centrifuges virtually identical to Iran’s at Natanz, where Iranian scientists are struggling to enrich uranium. They say Dimona tested the effectiveness of the Stuxnet computer worm, a destructive program that appears to have wiped out roughly a fifth of Iran’s nuclear centrifuges and helped delay, though not destroy, Tehran’s ability to make its first nuclear arms.
[Stuxnet] [Cyberwar] [Double standards]
On N. Korean heir's birthday, a rude cyber-greeting
By Chico Harlan
Washington Post Foreign Service
Saturday, January 8, 2011; 5:58 PM
BEIJING - Apparently breached by hackers, North Korea's official Twitter account on Saturday described leader Kim Jong Il and heir apparent Kim Jong Eun as sworn enemies and called for an uprising to remove them from power.
[Cyberwar]
N.Korea to put .kp domain websites back online
Observers believe the move may be to begin to expand N.Korea’s Internet openness
Kang Tae-ho, Senior Staff Writer
IT media IDG Tokyo Bureau Chief Martyn Williams revealed through online media and Twitter on Tuesday that North Korea would soon begin connections to the Internet using the domain .kp. The North Korean move is believed to be in order to expand and strengthen Internet openness.
Last year, Star Joint Venture, an investment of Thailand’s Loxley Pacific, which provided mobile phone service to North Korea, completed registration of some 1,024 Internet addresses, including the KCNA, but it appears the company will put them into use.
Williams wrote, “The country has a domestic intranet that makes use of dot-kp domain names, but the network isn’t connected to the Internet, so has its own servers. Ordinary North Koreans are not allowed access to the Internet, as part of the government’s attempts to limit exposure to information from overseas,” and that the move was the “latest in a string of actions by North Korea to strengthen its presence online.”
Initially, Williams predicted that North Korea would take these online openness-expanding measures in October of last year, on the 65th anniversary of the founding of the Workers Party of Korea.
In 2007, North Korea received from the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) the country domain of kp, but it has been connected to the Internet in a very limited fashion: it has not used domain name servers (DNS), forcing users to enter IP addresses for sites with servers in China. For example, the website of state-run media KCNA is not www.kcna.co.kp, but rather www.kcna.co.jp, and the Twiiter service it opened last year has been run using China’s Internet network or other locations overseas. Starting in 2003, it opened up some homepages using the domain kp, but these were not connected with the outside world, and could only be shared on “Gwangmyeong,” North Korea’s internal Internet.
[Media] [Cyberwar]
WikiLeaks backlash: The first global cyber war has begun, claim hackers
As Julian Assange is held in solitary confinement at Wandsworth prison, the anonymous community of hacktivists takes to the cyber battlefields
Share2227 Comments (419) Mark Townsend, Paul Harris in New York, Alex Duval Smith in Johannesburg, Dan Sabbagh, Josh Halliday guardian.co.uk, Saturday 11 December 2010 21.30 GMT Article history
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. Photograph: Lennart Preiss/AP
He is one of the newest recruits to Operation Payback. In a London bedroom, the 24-year-old computer hacker is preparing his weaponry for this week's battles in an evolving cyberwar. He is a self-styled defender of free speech, his weapon a laptop and his enemy the US corporations responsible for attacking the website WikiLeaks.
He had seen the flyers that began springing up on the web in mid-September. In chatrooms, on discussion boards and inboxes from Manchester to New York to Sydney the grinning face of a Guy Fawkes mask had appeared with a call to arms. Across the world a battalion of hackers was being summoned.
"Greetings, fellow anons," it said beneath the headline Operation Payback. Alongside were a series of software programs dubbed "our weapons of choice" and a stark message: people needed to show their "hatred".
Like most international conflicts, last week's internet war began over a relatively modest squabble, escalating in days into a global fight.
Before WikiLeaks, Operation Payback's initial target was America's recording industry, chosen for its prosecutions of music file downloaders. From those humble origins, Payback's anti-censorship, anti-copyright, freedom of speech manifesto would go viral, last week pitting an amorphous army of online hackers against the US government and some of the biggest corporations in the world.
Charles Dodd, a consultant to US government agencies on internet security, said: "[The hackers] attack from the shadows and they have no fear of retaliation. There are no rules of engagement in this kind of emerging warfare."
[Cyberwar] [NSA]
Boom Time for N.Korean Scientists
North Korean scientists wrote a record number of papers for international scientific journals this year. Their enthusiasm was apparently undimmed by a botched currency reform late last year, tight international sanctions and a worsening food situation.
According to information provider Thomson Reuters who regularly reviews the state of scientific research, North Korean scientists submitted 26 papers, all of them co-authored, to Science Citation Index journals until November.
Since 1976, North Korean scientists have written a total of 143 papers for international journals, or a mere four per year on average. Between 1977 and 1981 there were none and only a few until the 1990s. But the number has risen conspicuously since 2004, with 11, the first two-digit figure, in 2005, 17 in 2007 and 2008, and 19 in 2009.
The 26 papers written this year cover a range of topics from optics, nanotechnology, hydromechanics, material science, and bioengineering to medicine, cosmology and mathematics. Three papers on optics are all directly or indirectly related to laser research.
Five or six papers are about nanotechnology, the hottest research topic in the world of science today. As if to reflect the food shortage in the North, one paper focuses on a method to increase the corn harvest using insects.
None of this year's papers were published in top-class journals such as Science or Nature, nor were any of them were written by North Korean scientists alone. Chinese scientists co-authored 14 papers, and scientists from Australia, Germany, Japan, Malaysia, Switzerland and other countries 12.
Experts attribute the rapid increase to a new policy focus on science. Dr. Byun Sang-jung of the Institute for National Security Strategy said in a New Year’s message in 2000, the regime gave priority to three pillars -- ideology, the military, and science and technology. Already in 1998 the North formulated a five-year plan for science and technology development, laying the stress on investment and scientific exchanges with foreign countries. Even scientists of the U.S. are conducting joint research with North Korean scientists in electronics.
But the North's production of scientific papers could decline, some experts predict. Dr. Kim Jong-sun at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology said, "Most of the North's scientific papers published this year must got started in 2007, the last full year of the Roh Mu-hyun administration" when aid and exchanges were still in full swing.
"The North will likely produce a smaller number of scientific papers from next year, because the regime's science policy has reached limits now that inter-Korean exchanges are suspended," he added.
[Sanctions] [SK NK policy]
Worm Was Perfect for Sabotaging Centrifuges
By WILLIAM J. BROAD and DAVID E. SANGER
Published: November 18, 2010
Experts dissecting the computer worm suspected of being aimed at Iran’s nuclear program have determined that it was precisely calibrated in a way that could send nuclear centrifuges wildly out of control.
Their conclusion, while not definitive, begins to clear some of the fog around the Stuxnet worm, a malicious program detected earlier this year on computers, primarily in Iran but also India, Indonesia and other countries.
The paternity of the worm is still in dispute, but in recent weeks officials from Israel have broken into wide smiles when asked whether Israel was behind the attack, or knew who was. American officials have suggested it originated abroad.
[Cyberwar] [Stuxnet] [Legality]
New research confirms Iran's nuclear program was target of Stuxnet worm
By Glenn Kessler
The Stuxnet computer worm that infiltrated industrial systems in Iran this fall may have been specifically designed to attack the country's nuclear program, potentially crippling centrifuges used to enrich uranium gas, according to new research.
In a blog post Friday, a Stuxnet researcher at Symantec wrote that the software firm had concluded that the worm targets industrial systems with high frequency "converter drives" from two specific vendors, including one in Iran.
Independently, Langner Communications of Germany, on Sunday also discovered that another part of the worm's attack code is configured in a way that would match the structure of a turbine control system for steam turbines used in power plants, such as those installed at the Bushehr nuclear power plant in Iran. Langner also confirmed that the worm appears to attack key components of centrifuges.
Ivanka Barzashka, a research associate at the Federation of American Scientists, said the Symantec findings, "if true, are very significant."
In an e-mail, Barzashka wrote that the targeted frequency range, from 807 megahertz to 1210 megahertz, "is consistent with the operational frequencies of gas centrifuges used for uranium enrichment. Centrifuges are delicate pieces of equipment. There is a huge incentive for pushing the machines to operate at the maximum speed allowed by the materials they are made of. In addition, before they reach their maximum operating speeds, centrifuges have to traverse certain 'critical frequencies' at which they encounter resonance and can fly apart."
"Rigging the speed control is a very clever way of causing the machines to fly apart," she added. "If Symantec's analysis is true, then Stuxnet likely aimed to destroy Iran's gas centrifuges, which could produce enriched uranium for both nuclear fuel and nuclear bombs."
Following the discovery of the Stuxnet virus, analysts said it was likely the creation of a sophisticated entity, namely a government agency. Speculation centered on the United States or Israel as the most likely originators of the worm.
[Cyberwar] [Stuxnet]
Kim Bowled for Murdoch's Dollars With Korean Games
By Matthew Campbell and Bomi Lim - Sep 8, 2010 12:18 AM GMT+0900
North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has found an unlikely ally to help raise cash for his impoverished regime: The Dude, the pot-smoking underachiever played by Jeff Bridges in the movie “The Big Lebowski.”
Programmers from North Korea’s General Federation of Science and Technology developed a 2007 mobile-phone bowling game based on the 1998 film, as well as “Men in Black: Alien Assault,” according to two executives at Nosotek Joint Venture Company, which markets software from North Korea for foreign clients. Both games were published by a unit of News Corp., the New York-based media company, a spokeswoman for the unit said.
They represent a growing software industry championed by Kim that is boosting the economy of one of the poorest countries in the world and raising the technological skills of workers. Contracting with North Korean companies is legal under United Nations sanctions unless they are linked to the arms trade.
[Media] [IJV] [MISCOM] [IT]
'N. Korea attempted to hack G20 committee'
By Kang Hyun-kyung
North Korea allegedly attempted to hack the Presidential Committee for the G20 Summit several times recently, according to a local media report, Thursday.
MBC reported that the National Intelligence Service suspected the North in a recent hacking attempt of the committee’s computer network.
The spy agency, however, stopped short of directly blaming North Korea for the attempts.
The agency suspected that Pyongyang hacked the websites of ministries, government agencies and legislative officials’ personal computers in an effort to gather intelligence.
The NIS was quoted as saying that the North Korean military has a unit consisted of approximately 1,000 trained hackers and their skills are “noteworthy.”
About 9,200 cases of hacking into websites of government agencies were reported this year alone. In 2004, 48,000 attempts were recorded.
[Cyberwar] [Evidence] [Media]
Chinese Wrests Supercomputer Title From U.S.
By Ashlee Vance
Published: October 28, 2010
A Chinese scientific research center has built the fastest supercomputer ever made, replacing the United States as maker of the swiftest machine, and giving China bragging rights as a technology superpower.
The computer, known as Tianhe-1A, has 1.4 times the horsepower of the current top computer, which is at a national laboratory in Tennessee, as measured by the standard test used to gauge how well the systems handle mathematical calculations, said Jack Dongarra, a University of Tennessee computer scientist who maintains the official supercomputer rankings.
[Decline] [China rising]
Israel seen as prime cyberattack suspect
Published: Oct. 28, 2010 at 11:52 AM
TEL AVIV, Israel, Oct. 28 (UPI) -- Iran and others suspect Israel was behind the so-called Stuxnet computer worm that hit the Islamic Republic's Bushehr nuclear plant and industrial targets in early September.
The perpetrators may never be identified. But with little fanfare Israel, through Unit 8200 of Military Intelligence, has become a world leader in cyberwarfare, and is also desperate to cripple Iran's nuclear program.
The United States, whose high-tech, heavily automated economic and security sectors are highly vulnerable to cyberattack, has also been devoting much time and treasure to develop a cyberwar capability.
Both are also thought to be conducting covert operations aimed at disrupting the Iran's nuclear project, including luring scientists into defecting or assassinating them.
[Cyberwar] [Assassination]
China's Leap in Supercomputer Rankings
In merely a decade, China has become the world's third-greatest power in high-performance computing. Will it soon boast the fastest computer? By Rachael King
When a list of the world's 500 fastest computers is revealed on Nov. 15, it may contain a surprise. China, currently known to own the second-fastest computer, may reach the top spot. "Of the Top 10 machines today, China has two," says Jack Dongarra, director of the innovative computing laboratory at the University of Tennessee. "I know for sure they're going to have a third one in November." Dongarra has overseen the semiannual Top 500 list since it first appeared in 1993. "There's a great belief that the Chinese will be No.1," he says, adding that he has yet to see the data for next month's list.
Having the world's speediest computer carries more than bragging rights. "It means that China is taking computing seriously," says Dongarra. It's a sign that China is taking steps to spur innovation, he says.
[China rising]
Invasive Cyber Technologies and Internet Privacy: Big Brother is only a "Ping" or Mouse Click Away
By Tom Burghardt
Global Research, October 11, 2010
As they walked along the busy, yellow-lit tiers of offices, Anderton said: "You're acquainted with the theory of precrime, of course. I presume we can take that for granted."-- Philip K. Dick, The Minority Report
What do Google, the CIA and a host of so-called "predictive behavior" start-ups have in common?
They're interested in you, or more specifically, whether your online interests--from Facebook to Twitter posts, and from Flickr photos to YouTube and blog entries--can be exploited by powerful computer algorithms and subsequently transformed into "actionable intelligence."
And whether the knowledge gleaned from an IP address is geared towards selling useless junk or entering a name into a law enforcement database matters not a whit. It's all "just data" and "buzz" goes the mantra, along what little is left of our privacy and our rights.
Increasingly, secret state agencies ranging from the CIA to the National Security Agency are pouring millions of dollars into data-mining firms which claim they have a handle on who you are or what you might do in the future.
[Surveillance]
Who controls the internet?
By Misha Glenny
Published: October 8 2010 23:40 | Last updated: October 8 2010 23:40
General Keith Alexander, commander of USCYBERCOM, prepares to testify before the House Armed Services Committee, Washington, September 2010
Squared-jawed, with four stars decorating each shoulder, General Keith Alexander looks like a character straight out of an old American war movie. But his old-fashioned appearance belies the fact that the general has a new job that is so 21st-century it could have been dreamed up by a computer games designer. Alexander is the first boss of USCybercom, the United States Cyber Command, in charge of the Pentagon’s sprawling cyber networks and tasked with battling unknown enemies in a virtual world.
Last year, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates declared cyberspace to be the “fifth domain” of military operations, alongside land, sea, air and space. It is the first man-made military domain, requiring an entirely new Pentagon command. That went fully operational a week ago, marking a new chapter in the history of both warfare and the world wide web
[Cyberwar] [Stuxnet]
"Nuclear Spy" Arrests: Remember Who Your Friends Are, Iran
By Russ Wellen, October 5, 2010
As you may have heard, in response to the Stuxnet cyber attack on its nuclear program, Iran has been detaining Russian personnel working on Iran's first nuclear reactor at Bushehr. Hence, "dozens of Russian nuclear engineers, technicians and contractors are hurriedly departing Iran for home since local intelligence authorities began rounding up their compatriots as suspects of planting the Stuxnet malworm into their nuclear program," reports Israel's DEBKAfile.
[Cyberwar] [Stuxnet]
Iran detains 'spies' as it moves to ease fears over Stuxnet cyber attack
Intelligence chief blames western powers for computer worm targeting nuclear systems
(8)
Peter Beaumont The Observer, Sunday 3 October 2010 Article historyIran had detained several "spies" involved in attempts to sabotage the country's nuclear programme through cyberspace, the Iranian intelligence minister, Heydar Moslehi, said.
The announcement yesterday follows the attack on industrial computer systems in Iran by the Stuxnet worm, designed to disrupt its nuclear facilities, including the Bushehr power plant.
Although officials attempted to play down the significance of the Stuxnet attack, which had infected more than 30,000 computers, Moslehi's comments, apparently meant to reassure Iranians, suggest the cyber attack had caused more alarm in the regime than has so far been acknowledged.
[Cyberwar] [Stuxnet]
Iran Says It Arrested Computer Worm Suspects
By WILLIAM YONG
Published: October 2, 2010
TEHRAN — Iran has arrested an unspecified number of “nuclear spies” in connection with a damaging worm that has infected computers in its nuclear program, the intelligence minister, Heydar Moslehi, said Saturday.
Mr Moslehi also told the semiofficial Mehr news agency that the ministry had achieved “complete mastery” over government computer systems and was able to counter any cyberattacks by “enemy spy services.”
Iran confirmed last week that the Stuxnet worm, a malicious self-replicating program that attacks computers that control industrial plants, had infected computers in its nuclear operations. Officials said it had been found in personal computers at the Bushehr nuclear plant, a power generator that is not believed to be part of a weapons program, and that it had not caused “serious damage” to government systems.
While the origins of the worm remain obscure, many computer security experts believe it was created by a government with the intent of sabotaging Iran’s nuclear program, which Western countries believe is aimed at creating a nuclear weapon. The United States and Israel have cyberwarfare programs and both countries have sought to undermine Iran’s nuclear enrichment program, but neither has commented on the Stuxnet worm.
[Cyberwar] [Stuxnet]
Security: A code explodes
By James Blitz, Joseph Menn and Daniel Dombey
Published: October 1 2010 20:28 | Last updated: October 1 2010 20:28
Sitting in his office in Hamburg, Ralph Langner, a German information technology specialist, recalls the moment when he came across the Stuxnet computer worm. “I have to tell you, my jaw dropped,” he says. “I have been in the computer consultancy business for 20 years. I have always warned clients that something like this might appear. But I did not expect that I would end up seeing something so sophisticated, so aggressive, so dangerous.”
EDITOR’S CHOICE
Virus hits Iran nuclear programme - Sep-27.Web virus aimed at nuclear work, says Tehran - Sep-27.Warning over malicious computer worm - Sep-23.Editorial: Worms will turn - Sep-24.Stuxnet worm causes worldwide alarm - Sep-23.Scientist ‘infects himself’ with computer virus - May-26..Stuxnet is a malicious software code that was first noticed around the world four months ago. Today, it is causing alarm not just to IT experts such as Mr Langner but also to security strategists and governments. Among them is the Iranian regime, whose nuclear programme – seen as one of the most serious threats to global security – may have been severely hit.
For years, governments have been aware of the threat from cybercrime and cyberwarfare. The Pentagon has gone public on how hackers regularly break into its systems and try to steal secrets. Governments have seen, too, how one actor – almost certainly Russia – carried out large-scale cyberattacks on Estonia and Georgia in 2007 and 2008 respectively, severely disabling their communication networks for brief periods.
But the emergence of Stuxnet (its name is derived from keywords buried in the code) takes worries about cyberwarfare to a different plane. For the first time, an as yet unknown group has developed and deployed software that can spread on its own and enter computer systems linked to a real world target – a factory, a refinery, a nuclear power plant. It is designed to take control of, then attack, the facility in question. “It is absolutely directed to destroy something or to blow something up. It is, in effect, a cybermissile,” says Mr Langner, one of the first people to reveal the worm’s full potential as a weapon.
Stuxnet was discovered by a security company in Belarus, since when experts have tracked it closely. In August, Microsoft stated that more than 45,000 computers worldwide had been affected. Analysts then established that it was targeted specifically on an obscure type of industrial control computer made by the German company Siemens, and used to manage oil pipelines, power grids and nuclear plants across the world.
During the past 10 days, however, the target and motive have become clearer. Symantec, a US technology company, has reported that 60 per cent of computers penetrated are in Iran. Last weekend, Tehran conceded that the worm has infected Siemens systems at its civilian light-water nuclear reactor at Bushehr, which it hopes will shortly be fully operational.
Iran’s admission intensifies speculation about who created Stuxnet and why. Its sophistication and detail – and the fact that it has been configured to attack very few types of industrial plant – leads experts to believe only a government could have deployed it. Some point the finger at Israel, which has poured huge resources into Unit 8200, its secret cyberwarfare operation. Israel believes Iran’s nuclear programme is aimed at building a bomb and is therefore an existential threat. The discovery deep inside the worm of the word “Myrtus” – a name used for Queen Esther, one of the leading figures of biblical Jewish history – is seen by some as a possible clue to its origins.
But two other nations – the US and Britain – have serious worries about Iran. They too have bodies – Washington’s Department of Defense and National Security Agency and Britain’s GCHQ – that have established elaborate cyberoffensive operations. Some wonder whether they could be the source too.
The immediate mystery to be cleared up, however, is what Stuxnet has done behind Iran’s wall of secrecy. If it has inflicted serious damage and set back the nuclear programme, there will be delight in the US, Israel and Europe at the undermining of such a serious security threat.
But there would be limits to the rejoicing. For such a success would signal that a terrifying chapter in the history of warfare has begun
[Cyberwar] [Unintended consequences] [Strategic incoherence]
Stuxnet worm heralds new era of global Cyberwar
Attack aimed at Iran nuclear plant and recently revealed 2008 incident at US base show spread of cyber weapons
(100)
Comments (85) Peter Beaumont guardian.co.uk, Thursday 30 September 2010 16.46 BST Article history
The Stuxnet worm appeared to use contaminated hardware in an attempt to cripple Iran’s nuclear programme. Photograph: Matthew Baker/PA
The memory sticks were scattered in a washroom at a US military base in the Middle East that was providing support for the Iraq war.
They were deliberately infected with a computer worm, and the undisclosed foreign intelligence agency behind the operation was counting on the fallibility of human nature. According to those familiar with the events, it calculated that a soldier would pick up one of the memory sticks, pocket it and – against regulations – eventually plug it into a military laptop.
It was correct.
[Cyberwar]
Cyberwar Against Iran: Is Obama Already at War with Tehran?
Robert Dreyfuss
September 27, 2010
For several years now, there have been reports that the United States has been waging what amounts to technological warfare against Iran, using sophisticated industrial sabotage measures to weaken and undermine Iran’s nuclear industry—and, according to the New York Times, these efforts began during the Bush administration but accelerated under President Obama. And, for the past several years, there have been widespread reports that Iran’s nuclear program has been slowed or crippled by some unexplained malfunctions that have, among other things, caused Iran to spin far fewer centrifuges at Natanz, its enrichment plant, than earlier.
If so, and if the United States is behind it, then Obama is already at war with Iran. Cyber warfare is no less war than bombs and paratroopers
[Cyberwar] [Obama]
A Silent Attack, but Not a Subtle One
September 26, 2010
By JOHN MARKOFF
SAN FRANCISCO
AS in real warfare, even the most carefully aimed weapon in computer warfare leaves collateral damage.
The Stuxnet worm was no different.
The most striking aspect of the fast-spreading malicious computer program — which has turned up in industrial programs around the world and which Iran said had appeared in the computers of workers in its nuclear project — may not have been how sophisticated it was, but rather how sloppy its creators were in letting a specifically aimed attack scatter randomly around the globe.
The malware was so skillfully designed that computer security specialists who have examined it were almost certain it had been created by a government and is a prime example of clandestine digital warfare. While there have been suspicions of other government uses of computer worms and viruses, Stuxnet is the first to go after industrial systems. But unlike those other attacks, this bit of malware did not stay invisible.
If Stuxnet is the latest example of what a government organization can do, it contains some glaring shortcomings.
Accounts of the event initially indicated that sophisticated jamming technology had been used to blind the radar so Israeli aircraft went unnoticed. Last December, however, a report in an American technical publication, IEEE Spectrum, cited a European industry source as raising the possibility that the Israelis had used a built-in kill switch to shut down the radar.
A former member of the United States intelligence community said that the attack had been the work of Israel’s equivalent of America’s National Security Agency, known as Unit 8200.
[Cyberwar]
Web superbug seeking to access China
Source: Global Times [01:14 September 27 2010] Comments By Guo Qiang
A sophisticated malicious computer software, or malware, described by security firms as a "new cyber-weapon," is attempting to infiltrate factory computers in China's pillar industries, threatening the country's national security, cyber experts warned Sunday.
Called Stuxnet, the worm was first discovered in mid- June and was specially written to attack Siemens supervisory control and data (SCADA) systems commonly used to control and monitor industrial facilities - from traffic lights and oil rigs to power and nuclear plants, according to experts.
"This malware is specially designed to sabotage plants and damage industrial systems, instead of stealing personal data. It will seriously threaten pillar industries in China," an engineer surnamed Wang at the Beijing-headquartered Rising International Software company told the Global Times Sunday.
Various so-called experts quoted by the Iran Daily suggested that the United States and Israel were behind the malware, evoking the "West's electronic warfare against Iran," AFP reported.
[Cyberwar]
Anti-Iran computer bug had powerful backers
Stuxnet computer code designed to infect industrial plants created by well-funded hackers, says Symantec Corp expert
(16)Tweet this (112)Sagar Meghani and Nasser Karimi, Associated Press in Washington and Tehran
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 26 September 2010 20.54 BST Article history
Graph shows concentration of Stuxnet-infected computers in Iran as of August. Photograph: Symantec
A powerful computer code attacking industrial facilities around the world, but mainly in Iran, was probably created by experts working for a country or a well-funded private group, according to an analysis by a leading computer security company.
[Cyberwar]
Iran Fights Malware Attacking Computers
By DAVID E. SANGER
Published: September 25, 2010
WASHINGTON — The Iranian government agency that runs the country’s nuclear facilities, including those the West suspects are part of a weapons program, has reported that its engineers are trying to protect their facilities from a sophisticated computer worm that has infected industrial plants across Iran.
Related
Bits: Malicious Software Program Attacks Industry (September 24, 2010) The agency, the Atomic Energy Organization, did not specify whether the worm had already infected any of its nuclear facilities, including Natanz, the underground enrichment site that for several years has been a main target of American and Israeli covert programs.
Given the sophistication of the worm and its aim at specific industrial systems, many experts believe it is most probably the work of a state, rather than independent hackers
The New York Times reported in 2009 that President George W. Bush had authorized new efforts, including some that were experimental, to undermine electrical systems, computer systems and other networks that serve Iran’s nuclear program, according to current and former American officials.
The program is among the most secret in the United States government, and it has been accelerated since President Obama took office, according to some American officials. Iran’s enrichment program has run into considerable technical difficulties in the past year, but it is not clear whether that is because of the effects of sanctions against the country, poor design for its centrifuges, which it obtained from Pakistan, or sabotage.
“It is easy to look at what we know about Stuxnet and jump to the conclusion that it is of American origin and Iran is the target, but there is no proof of that,” said James Lewis, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington and one of the country’s leading experts on cyberwar intelligence. “We may not know the real answer for some time.”
[Cyberwar]
Inspired by reunification, video says Internet is a tool for peace
The president of the organization who put together the video will be invited to the award ceremony if the Internet receives the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize
By Kang Tae-ho, Senior staff writer
“Summer 2010. For the first time in 44 years, North Korea participates in the World Cup. A lone North Korean player cried. WHY?”
This question begins the video “Internet: The Best Tool for Peace,” which was put together mainly by MiYooMo, an association for Korean exchange students in the United States. During the video, people are seen learning from Twitter and other sources that the man in the video is Jong Tae-se, 26, a Korean football player who was born in Japan and played for the North Korean national team.
“Transcending ideology to help us understand our common past, present, and future,” a caption reads. On Sept. 21, the video was selected as winner of the Internet for Peace Contest sponsored by Wired, a noted U.S. information technology magazine.
[Unification]
Warning over malicious computer worm
By Joseph Menn in San Francisco and Mary Watkins in London
Published: September 23 2010 19:38 | Last updated: September 23 2010 19:38
A piece of highly sophisticated malicious software that has infected an unknown number of power plants, pipelines and factories over the past year is the first program designed to cause serious damage in the physical world, security experts are warning.
The Stuxnet computer worm spreads through previously unknown holes in Microsoft’s Windows operating system and then looks for a type of software made by Siemens and used to control industrial components, including valves and brakes.
EDITOR’S CHOICE
Stuxnet worm causes worldwide alarm - Sep-23.Scientist ‘infects himself’ with computer virus - May-26.The job: Virus hunter - Sep-05.Purchase highlights cybercrime fears - Aug-19.Cybercrime losses double in two years - Apr-28..Stuxnet can hide itself, wait for certain conditions and give new orders to the components that reverse what they would normally do, the experts said. The commands are so specific that they appear aimed at an industrial sector, but officials do not know which one or what the affected equipment would do.
While cyber attacks on computer networks have slowed or stopped communication in countries such as Estonia and Georgia, Stuxnet is the first aimed at physical destruction and it heralds a new era in cyberwar.
At a closed-door conference this week in Maryland, Ralph Langner, a German industrial controls safety expert, said Stuxnet might be targeting not a sector but perhaps only one plant, and he speculated that it could be a controversial nuclear facility in Iran
[Cyberwar]
Was Stuxnet Built to Attack Iran's Nuclear Program?
By Robert McMillan, IDG News
A highly sophisticated computer worm that has spread through Iran, Indonesia and India was built to destroy operations at one target: possibly Iran's Bushehr nuclear reactor.
That's the emerging consensus of security experts who have examined the Stuxnet worm. In recent weeks, they've broken the cryptographic code behind the software and taken a look at how the worm operates in test environments. Researchers studying the worm all agree that Stuxnet was built by a very sophisticated and capable attacker -- possibly a nation state -- and it was designed to destroy something big.
[Cyberwar]
Speak Loudly and Carry a Small Stick: The North Korean Cyber Menace
By James A. Lewis
Kim Jong Il giving instruction inside a computer lab in North Korea. Photo: struat.com
We often see reports of troubling and sophisticated North Korean capabilities to wage cyber warfare. Although cyber exploits, usually against South Korean targets, are routinely attributed to the North, there is much suspicion and concern, but little hard evidence. Estimates of the size of North Korea’s hacker force vary wildly—an indication of the poor quality of the data—and reports on its cyber capabilities are also complicated by an imprecise use of terms. Discussions of cyber conflicts—usually referred to as cyber attacks, cyber terror, or cyber warfare—often have a kind of breathless, apocalyptic quality about them. But in this case, they tend to disguise the fact that we have seen nothing from the North that could qualify as a cyber attack, cyber war, or as an act of cyber terrorism.
[Cyberwar] [Inversion] [Paradigm] [Bizarre]
Seoul to Block N.Korea's Twitter Account
The Korea Communications Standards Commission on Thursday decided to block access to North Korea's Twitter account.
The commission concluded that Uriminzok tweets are illegal under the decades-old National Security Law because they "praise, encourage sympathy for, publicize, or support the North Korean regime's activities."
The Korea Communications Commission had asked the KCSC to review the issue at the request of the National Intelligence Service and the police.
[National Security Law] [Human rights] [Cyberwar]
Inter-Korean hide and seek takes place on Twitter
S.Korean authorities have attempted to block N.Korea’s newly-created Twitter account
North Korea and South Korea are playing a fierce game of “hide and seek” on Twitter. The South Korean government blocked the Twitter site supposedly run by North Korea’s Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland.
North Korea has responded by using a variety of techniques to get around this.
The Korea Communications Standards Commission (KOCSC), in accordance with requests from relevant agencies, blocked access by local users to the site twitter.com/uriminzok on Thursday, applying the National Security Law.
Accordingly, the site has been officially blocked since Thursday evening. Users of Twitter applications such as Parangsae and Seesmic, could still read it even after the measure. Since 75 percent of Twitter users access Twitter through these programs, the KCSC measure is having little effect. In fact, even after the authorities officially blocked access to the site, the number of followers continued to increase. As of Friday afternoon, they were more than 9,200. Most were Koreans.
Particularly noteworthy is that North Korea’s methods are growing more sophisticated. In fact, the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland used the URLs from Uriminzokkiri just as they were when it first opened the Twitter account on Aug. 12, but from Aug. 18 it began using Twitter-use TinyURLs, and since the site was blocked, it has connected its posts to Facebook.
Its Facebook page has yet to be blocked. In particular, North Korea has been syndicating its Facebook content via RSS since Friday. It is also sharing videos via its Youtube account, which likewise has yet to be blocked.
The authorities are also showing more concern. The emergency blocking measure taken by the KCSC targets only the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (http). It does not close off new paths set up by North Korea. As it is possible for users to access the blocked Twitter site via HTTP Secure (https), the authorities have become even more agonized.
Meanwhile, in an article published by the Christian Science Monitor, Michael Breen, who has written a biography of Kim Jong-il, said, “It shows they do not trust their own people.” Breen also said, “Citizens should be allowed to make up their minds about dictatorship.”
Andrew Salmon, a Korea expert who has written a book on the British soldiers who fought during the Korean War, remarked that it was “ridiculous” that the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland’s Twitter site was blocked.
[Human rights] [Cyberwar]
North Korea Takes to Twitter and YouTube
By CHOE SANG-HUN
Published: August 16, 2010
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea has taken its propaganda war against South Korea and the United States to a new frontier: YouTube and Twitter.
In the last month, North Korea has posted a series of video clips on YouTube brimming with satire and vitriol against leaders in South Korea and the United States.
In one clip, it called Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton a “minister in a skirt” and Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates a “war maniac,” while depicting the South Korean defense minister, Kim Tae-young, as a “servile dog” that likes to be patted by “its American master.”
Such language used to be standard in North Korea’s cold-war-era propaganda. Its revival is testimony to the increased chill in relations between the Koreas in recent months.
In the past week, North Korea also began operating a Twitter account under the name uriminzok, or “our nation.”
Both the Twitter and YouTube accounts are owned by a user named “uriminzokkiri.” The Web site www.uriminzokkiri.com is run by the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea, a propaganda agency in Pyongyang.
[Cyberwar]
US largely ruling out NKorea in 2009 cyberattacks
By LOLITA C. BALDOR
The Associated Press
Saturday, July 3, 2010; 9:06 AM
WASHINGTON -- U.S. officials have largely ruled out North Korea as the origin of a computer attack last July that took down U.S. and South Korean government websites, according to cybersecurity experts.
But authorities are not much closer than they were a year ago to knowing exactly who did it - and why.
In the days after the fast-moving, widespread attack, analysis pointed to North Korea as the likely starting point because code used in the attack included Korean language and other indicators. Experts now say there is no conclusive evidence that North Korea, or any other nation, orchestrated it.
Some suggest the July 4 weekend attacks a year ago may have been designed as a political broadside.
These officials point suspicions at South Koreans, possibly activists, who are concerned about the threat from North Korea and would be looking to ramp up antagonism toward their neighbor.
Jackson, whose company was among several private firms that studied the codes after the attack, said one possibility is that hackers in South Korea were the culprits.
South Korean sources had a mission and may have "wanted someone blamed for it," said Jackson. "It would further the point that North Korea has elite squads" of hackers targeting Seoul.
[Cyberwar] [Disinformation] [False flag]
Book review: 'Cyber War' by Richard Clarke
By Jeff Stein
Sunday, May 23, 2010
CYBER WAR
The Next Threat to National Security and What to Do About It
By Richard A. Clarke and Robert K. Knake
Ecco.
290 pp. $25.99
Cyber-war, cyber-this, cyber-that: What is it about the word that makes the eyes roll? Adults of a certain age, myself included, have a hard time getting worked up over something that seems more akin to pushing buttons frantically in "Grand Theft Auto" than waging a real war, in which very loud weapons shred bodies and devastate cities, possibly with a nuclear accent. How authentic can a war be when things don't blow up? Carried out in dark rooms by computer geeks armed with joysticks and keyboards, this click-click contest seems merely virtual, not really fatal.
Even backward North Korea is exercising its cyber-muscles. Last year, on July 4, the hermit kingdom reportedly sent a virus to attack commercial and government Web sites in the United States, including those of the New York Stock Exchange and the White House, as well as sites in South Korea. Little damage seems to have been done, but Clarke suspects it was an electronic reconnaissance, "preparing the battlefield" for the real thing -- a ground invasion of the South.
We, too, have cyber-forces to attack foreign targets, but we are not even close to defending ourselves, Clarke warns. Our technological prowess scares nobody. It makes our critical infrastructure even more tempting to China and Russia, not to mention North Korea.
[Cyberwar] [Bizarre] [Military balance]
N. Korea says it has developed Web site for mobile phones
2009/05/22 15:34 KST
By Tony Chang
SEOUL, May 22 (Yonhap) -- North Korea has developed a mobile version of a government Web site to distribute news and other content over wireless phones following the reported launch of a third-generation (3G) wireless communications network there, a state-run Web site said Friday.
Uriminzokkiri, an official Web site run by North Korea, said that "Ryomyong," a separate site run by the National Reconciliation Council, has launched a "Web page for mobile phones."
The mobile site carries major news from the Korea Central News Agency (KCNA) and other content concerning major developments in the country, it said, without disclosing the Web address or whether it was accessible domestically or abroad. Details on how to access the Web site through wireless phones were also not provided.
In light of the announcement, some experts in the South speculate that the Web page in question may in fact be a recently opened Twitter account page found at http://twitter.com/kcna_dprk.
The micro-blogging site, run by a U.S. venture start-up of the same name, is a widely used platform by media outlets such as CNN to send out real-time news. It can be accessed by smartphones such as Research In Motion Ltd.'s BlackBerrys and Apple Inc's iPhones.
"I think it is highly likely as it is very easy to open up a so-called 'Web version' of any site rather than build up a separate one from scratch which often costs money," an industry insider in Seoul said.
An official at the Unification Ministry confirmed that Web page links posted on the Twitter account connected users to the corresponding story in KCNA's Web page. All North Korean-run Web sites are blocked in the South and can only be accessed through special government authorization.
[Attempt at http://twitter.com/kcna_dprk 30 April 2010 gave message that Sorry, the profile you are trying to view has been suspended.]
[Mobile][Human rights] [Double standards]
Kim Il Sung University Boasts Its E-Library
Pyongyang, April 28 (KCNA) -- Kim Il Sung University, the highest seat of the Juche-based education, boasts its E-Library, an ultramodern education, science information service center.
The five-storied library has a total floor space of more than 15,000 square meters. It is on the world standard in terms of data base and service capacity.
The data base of the library is rich in information about the whole of Korea and all countries of the world. It includes the works of President Kim Il Sung and General Secretary Kim Jong Il, information about the revolutionary histories of the three commanders of Mt. Paektu, books, magazines and treatises in the fields of social science and natural science, scientific and technological books, magazines and excerpts from publications of different countries of the world, patented materials, and science films and special scientific and technological files and other animation files and programs.
The data base of the library will steadily gain in scope as it has all kinds of latest digital facilities capable of converting information into e-books and animation files.
Kim Jong Il Inspects E-Library at Kim Il Sung Univ.
Pyongyang, April 12 (KCNA) -- General Secretary Kim Jong Il gave field guidance to the newly-built E-Library at Kim Il Sung University.
He looked round the interior of the library including reading rooms and remote-controlled lecture rooms for a long while to acquaint himself in detail with its construction and technical equipment. He expressed great satisfaction with the successful construction of the modern library which meets the need of the age of knowledge-based economy.
[Development strategy] [ICT]
Govt to produce own handsets as demand for mobile phones rises
Tokyo-based newspaper Chosun Sinbo has reported that mobile subscriptions in the DPRK are continuing to rise steadily and could reach 600,000 by the end of the year. The pro-North Korea newspaper added that the number of cellular customers in the communist state currently stands at over 120,000, with wireless infrastructure reportedly present in more than half of the country’s cities and counties that is expected to accommodate 600,000 subscribers by year-end. The DPRK’s only mobile operator is CHEO Technology, which offers services under the Koryolink brand. Citing the head of North Korea’s mobile telecoms department, Choe Un, the report also added that the state plans to produce its own handsets – currently manufactured in China – within the next six months.
According to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database, CHEO was awarded a 25-year licence to operate a 3G network in January 2008, with the first four years on an exclusive basis. It is owned by Orascom Telecom Holding of Egypt (75%) and state-owned Korea Post and Telecoms Corporation (25%). Services were launched in December 2008 in the capital Pyongyang, but the network has since been expanded to include the main road running up to the northern city of Hyangsan, with the company currently working on expanding services nationwide.
The next India
Outsourcing IT: challenges and opportunities
In developing countries, the current economic crisis has led to a decline in exports of goods such as textiles and to a reduction in foreign investments. However, exports of IT-related services could be on the increase.
May 28, 2009 Paul Tjia
The current economic crisis has had severely negative impacts on developing countries. It has led to a decline in exports of goods such as textiles and a reduction in foreign investments. However, exports of IT-related services from developing countries could increase. Because firms in industrialized countries are now struggling to find ways to reduce costs, outsourcing IT services to countries where labour is cheaper (‘offshore sourcing’) is an increasingly attractive option. Many developing countries are already engaged in IT services, including some of the poorest nations, such as Bangladesh, Kenya, Nepal and Uganda. Others, such as Afghanistan, Liberia, Myanmar and Rwanda, are preparing to enter this industry.
Animated film production is very labour-intensive and is therefore ideal for offshoring. In North Korea, SEK Studio in Pyongyang is now one of the world’s largest animation studios, producing films for French, Italian and Spanish film and television companies.
[Offshoring] [Animation]
Previous articles/reports by Paul Tjia
Dutch trade mission to DPRK
(28 September – 4 October 2008)
Rotterdam, November 17, 2008
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK, also
known as North-Korea) finds itself at the beginning of
a new era of international economic cooperation. The
DPRK is offering various products and services to
export markets, and there is also a need for many
foreign products and investments.
North Korea: an upcoming software destination
Surprising business opportunities in Pyongyang
Dutch companies are increasingly conducting Information Technology projects in low-cost countries. Also known as offshore sourcing, this way of working means that labor-intensive activities, such as the programming of computer software, are being done abroad. Asia is the most popular software destination, and Indian IT firms are involved in large projects for Dutch enterprises such as ANB Amro Bank, KLM, Philips or Heineken. More recently, we notice a growth in the software collaboration with China.
Archive for the ‘Korea Computer Center (KCC)’ Category
The number of science and technology institutions in North Korea is estimated to hover around 300; about 200 institutions have been officially confirmed. Therefore, the North is unable to focus on building the hardware industry, which requires massive capital input and long-term investment, and is left with no choice, but to be keen on nurturing IT talent geared toward software development. As a result, the North has been producing excellent IT human resources in areas like artificial intelligence, needed for controlling man-made satellites and developing arms systems, and programming languages.
The e-book revolution hits North Korea
Perhaps it's still too soon to see iPads in Pyongyang, but North Koreans are reported to be enjoying "a wealth" of e-books.
Beyond propaganda: North Koreans are reported to be able to access a range of e-books that are not limited to government propaganda.
By Marjorie Kehe / April 6, 2010
It's the miracle we all want to believe in – that our information age will allow us to put books, in digital or other format, into the hands of readers all over the globe. And now it seems that even North Koreans – living in one of the world's most cloistered countries – are reaping the benefits of that promise.
According to the Korea Times, South Korean activist Kim Seong-min has reported that Electronic Library Mirae (Future) 2.0, a North Korean e-book computer program, is allowing readers in North Korea to choose among a "wealth" of e-book titles. [Inversion] [Sanctions]
China and the World Map of the Internet
Written by Julen Madariaga on December 4th, 2009
I was tinkering with some statistics last night, considering that strange idea of the Insularity of the Chinese Internet that we’ve been discussing lately. The expression itself is odd, because “internet” and “insularity” form an oxymoron, but you hardly notice these things when you live here. It’s normal routine in the land of socialist market economy.
One interesting thing in the map above is that Asia is already the largest internet area in the World. Amazing—but not really, after all, it has by far the largest population. And this is nothing compared to what is coming: with the growth of India and China the internet is going to be an Asian joint in the next few years.
NK Goes for Linux-Based Operating System
By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter
North Korea, the planet's deepest information void, appears to have its own computer operating system. Not that it puts Microsoft Windows to shame.
According to researchers at South Korea's Science and Technology Policy Institute (STEPI), North Korea's Linux-based "RED Star" software is mainly designed to monitor the Web behavior of its citizens and control information made available to them.
However, the computer operating system does represent North Korean efforts to advance its computer technology, which lags as a result of the country's isolation, relying on Linux and other open-source software, said Kim Jong-seon, a STEPI researcher
[Sanctions] [Surveillance] [Media]
American TV-footage on North-Korean technological developments
Even American companies are exploring business opportunities in North-Korea and several firms are preparing visits. A TV-program covers developments in mobile phones and IT in North-Korea, and discusses ways of future American cooperation:
North Koreans Use Cellphones to Bare Secrets
Jean Chung for The New York Times
Mun Seong-hwi, a North Korean defector, speaking to someone in North Korea to gather information at his office in Seoul.
By CHOE SANG-HUN
Published: March 28, 2010
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea, one of the world’s most impenetrable nations, is facing a new threat: networks of its own citizens feeding information about life there to South Korea and its Western allies.
The networks are the creation of a handful of North Korean defectors and South Korean human rights activists using cellphones to pierce North Korea’s near-total news blackout. To build the networks, recruiters slip into China to woo the few North Koreans allowed to travel there, provide cellphones to smuggle across the border, then post informers’ phoned and texted reports on Web sites.
[Intelligence]
120,000 Affluent N.Koreans Have Mobile Phones
Mobile phones available in North Korea show the name of leader Kim Jong-il in bold black text once they are switched on and have been programmed so that the only dates appearing on their scheduling functions are the birthdays of Kim and his father, former leader Kim Il-sung.
The Chongqing Evening News on Saturday reported most mobile phones sold in North Korea are made in China according to North Korean specifications.
Buying and activating a mobile phone in the North costs a whopping US$1,300, which translates into more than 600 months worth of savings of the average factory worker.
But the number of mobile phone subscribers has grown to 120,000, or 0.5 percent of the country's population. Phone users can even access newspapers once they access a state-run Internet network using their handsets after entering their IDs and passwords.
Mobile Phones Spread Fast in N.Korea
A North Korean poster advertises mobile phones (file photo) Mobile phone subscriptions have spread fast in North Korea and are due to reach 120,000 early next year only a year after service began, AFP reported on Wednesday.
The North began mobile phone service in Pyongyang in November 2002 but shut it down in 2004 to tighten controls on outside information. Orascom, an Egyptian telecom firm, and the North Korean government established a joint venture named Koryolink on Dec. 15, 2008 with a 75:25 stake. The firm has since been providing subscribers with third-generation W-CDMA mobile service.
"It is a bigger-than-expected success," a Koryolink spokesman was quoted as telling a visiting Japanese researcher, Masayuki Aramaki, in Pyongyang. The spokesman said the telecom joint venture had aimed at 50,000 subscribers in the first year of service and 120,000 in the third year but the number of subscribers already exceeded 70,000 in just 11 months.
Nicole Finneman of the Washington-based Korea Economic Institute, who led a U.S. delegation to North Korea in late November, on Tuesday said she was impressed by the spread of mobile phones there. All North Koreans the delegation met including their driver and their guide had one, she added.
Jiji Press reports that North Koreans exchanged information by mobile phones during the latest controversial currency reform.
The phones in use in Pyongyang are made in China and cost 200 euros (about 340,000 won). They operate on pre-paid cards priced at 3 and 5 euros. Ordinary people can use the service only in Pyongyang. Internet service on mobile phones has also begun recently there.
N.Korean E-Map of the Peninsula Unveiled
An e-map of the Korean Peninsula made in North Korea that includes detailed the geographic information of South Korea was made public on Wednesday.
The map was obtained by Free North Korea Radio through a source close to the pro-Pyongyang General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, or Chongryon. It includes administrative districts, scenic spots, rivers and other useful information in both Koreas.
Drawn up by the Pyongyang Information Center, the official agency in charge of computer software development, in 2001, the 196 MB e-map consists of about 1,000 computer files.
North Korea Has Electronic Books
By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter
North Korea, the planet's deepest information void, appears to be dabbling with electronic books (e-books), a South Korean activist claimed Thursday.
It's questionable how much an ecosystem for e-books would be relevant to readers living in perhaps the most censored country in the world.
But according to Free North Korea Radio's Kim Seong-min, North Koreans have choices beyond government propaganda books to read on their computers, including translations of Western classics such as Shakespeare's plays, ``The Iliad,'' ``Don Quixote,'' `` Jane Eyre,'' `` Les Miserables'' and even ``Gone With The Wind.''
``North Korea will have less complications surrounding copyright issues compared to the South, and with the government pushing the project directly, the country seems to have acquired a wealth of e-book content over a relatively short period of time,'' Kim told Yonhap News.
Kim revealed ``Electronic Library Mirae (Future) 2.0,'' North Korea's e-book computer program he claimed to have acquired from one of his foreign sources
[ICT]
Transformative Technology for a Sustainable Future
By Peter Hayes
February 5th, 2010
Every so often in history a technological innovation emerges that has a
transformative effect on human civilization. As the world ponders how to
avoid the catastrophic effects of climate change, Nautilus Institute
Director Peter Hayes looks at some of the possible technological
breakthroughs that could pave the way to a sustainable future.
[Green]
Military to Phase Out USB Drives After Hacking Debacle
The military will phase out use of USB flash drives starting next year after a slew of military secrets were leaked, the latest being a joint South Korea-U.S. military action plan that was apparently accessed by North Korean hackers.
A Defense Ministry official on Monday said the ministry plans to build a new data exchange system by investing W2.8 billion (US$1=W1,121) this year. The new system to be completed by year's end will link the Defense Ministry, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the headquarters of the Army, Navy and Air Force.
[Cyberwar] [Takeover]
Mobile phones spreading in N. Korea: media
(AFP) – 4 days ago
TOKYO — Mobile phone subscriptions are spreading fast and due to reach 120,000 early next
year in communist North Korea, where an Egyptian provider started a service a year ago, a
press report said Tuesday.
The joint venture with Egypt's Orascom, named Koryolink, has set up a third-generation
mobile network, according to official North Korean media.
"It is a bigger-than-expected success," the marketing manager of the telecom joint venture
was quoted as telling a visiting Japanese researcher on East Asian affairs, Masayuki
Aramaki, in Pyongyang, Jiji Press reported.
Virtual criminology report - cybercrime: the next wave
Cyber Crime: A 24/7 Global Battle
Cyber crime is a grim reality that's growing at an alarming rate, and no one is immune to the mounting threat. It is costing consumers, businesses, and nations billions of dollars annually, and there's no end in sight.
For an in-depth analysis of this global trend, read the annual McAfee Virtual Criminology Report. We've consulted with more than a dozen security experts at the world's premier institutions-NATO, the FBI, SOCA, The London School of Economics, and the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism-to get their insights on the complexities of the dark side of the Internet.
[Cyberwar] [Spin]
DPRK stresses economic ‘informationalization’
Posted Date : 2009-11-04 (NK Brief No. 09-11-04-2)
The North Korean monthly publication “Chollima” stressed in a recent (September, 2009) edition the need to improve efficiency in production and administrative activities, emphasizing that if the North is to succeed at becoming an “economic power,” then economic management and administrative activities need to become “informationalized.”
Kim Yong Nam Meets Chairman of Orascom
Pyongyang, September 30 (KCNA) -- Kim Yong Nam, president of the Presidium of the DPRK Supreme People's Assembly, met and had a talk with Naguib Sawiris, chairman and CEO of the Orascom Telecom Holding of Egypt, and his party when they paid a courtesy call on him at the Mansudae Assembly Hall on Wednesday.
"Rogue Hacker" and Black Ops
Behind the Cyberattacks on America and South Korea
by Tom Burghardt
.
Global Research, July 12, 2009
The iconic American investigative journalist I.F. Stone once said, "All governments are run by liars and nothing they say should be believed." Stone's credo is all the more relevant today when it comes to the pronouncements of intelligence agencies and their corporate masters, particularly where official enemies are concerned.
A widespread computer attack that began July 4 took down several U.S. Government, South Korean and financial web sites, the Associated Press reported.
Despite the unsophisticated nature of the cyber incursion that employed a variant of the MyDoom virus, unnamed "senior U.S. officials" told The Wall Street Journal that American and South Korean officials are "probing North Korea's possible role." The same anonymous sources said that the botnet attack "coincided with North Korea's latest missile launches and followed a United Nations decision to impose new sanctions."
That the cyber assault also "coincided" with a holiday fireworks accident that killed 5 workers in North Carolina, multiple deaths due to drunk driving on U.S. highways or an Italian railway disaster that claimed 21 lives, is hardly "evidence" of Pyongyang's shadowy hand.
[Cyberwar] [Disinformation] [Evidence]
Mystery surrounds hackers’ identity
Officials offer no comment on possible link with North
July 17, 2009
Who are the mystery hackers?
For the moment, no one is entirely sure who set up and executed the attacks on government and corporate Web sites in South Korea and the United States on July 7 and 8.
Initially, South Korea’s National Intelligence Service claimed North Korea was the mastermind of the distributed denial-of-service, or DDoS, assaults.
[Cyberwar]
Web’s Anonymity Makes Cyberattack Hard to Trace
By JOHN MARKOFF
Published: July 16, 2009
It is an axiom that “on the Internet nobody knows that you are a dog.”
Despite the initial assertions and rumors that North Korea was behind the attacks and slight evidence that the programmer had some familiarity with South Korean software, the consensus of most computer security specialists is that the attackers could be located anywhere in the world.
Last week, investigators quickly located computers that were involved with the control of the botnet in Britain and several other countries. However, the Internet service provider whose systems were implicated in the attack quickly issued a news release stating that the attack was actually coming from Miami.
Some experts pointed to an entirely different origin for the attacks, or at least the attention paid to them. Cyberwarfare has become a hot topic in Washington this year, with the Obama administration undertaking a detailed review of the nation’s computer security preparedness.
“There is a U.S. political debate going on right now with high stakes and big payoffs,” said Ronald J. Deibert, director of the Citizen Lab at the Munk Center for International Studies at the University of Toronto. “With the administration cyberreview there are many government agencies orbiting around the policy debate that have an interest in pointing to this incident as evidence with obvious implications.”
By the same token, it is all but impossible to know whether you are from North Korea or South Korea.
[Cyberwar]
Cyber Attack 'Came from Britain, Not N.Korea'
The source of a crippling cyber attack targeting Cheong Wa Dae and other key websites in South Korea and the United States was a computer in the U.K., analysis shows.
Although it remains unclear exactly who was behind the distributed denial of service attacks, they were orchestrated from a master server with an IP address in England. The Korea Communications Commission said Tuesday Vietnamese computer security company Bach Khoa Internetwork Security told the Korea Information Security Agency that the master server behind the attacks was located in the U.K.
After the DDoS attacks began, KISA had sent samples of the computer virus to 16 member nations of the Asia Pacific Computer Emergency Response Team, which includes Vietnam. The KCC then passed on the information to the National Intelligence Service, state prosecutors and the police, while an international investigation has been launched.
British authorities are said to have been notified and have launched a probe of the server using that IP address.
KISA speculates that the master server, which uses a Windows 2003 operating system, spread the virus through 125 host websites across the world. Damage was reported in 166,000 computers in 74 countries, including South Korea, the U.S., China, Japan, Canada, New Zealand and the U.K. In South Korea alone, around 78,000 computers were infected.
Hwang Chul-jeung, the head of network policy at the KCC, said, "Either the server in England had been hijacked or another master server may have been used."
[Cyberwar] [Spin]
NK Said Not Operating Hacker Base in Dandong
By Sunny Lee
Korea Times Correspondent
BEIJING ? A Chinese daily refuted Wednesday South Korean news reports stating that North Korea was operating a cyber terror base in China that was likely behind the recent massive cyber attacks in the U.S. and South Korea.
The Global Times, published under the official People's Daily, reported that the news was unfounded.
Citing a document from Seoul's top spy agency, the JoongAng Ilbo said Sunday that Pyongyang has been running a cyber attack base since 2004 in a hotel in Dandong, a city in Liaoning Province that borders North Korea.
A military security analyst, Dai Xu, told the Global Times that the JoongAng report "intentionally" exaggerated one possible scenario for the cyber attacks in order to stir up public opinion in South Korea so that it would be easier to lobby for establishing a cyber warfare unit.
On Monday, citing unnamed intelligence sources, South Korean broadcaster YTN reported from Beijing that Kim Jong-il has pancreatic cancer.
That news gathered intense international attention because of concerns about the famine-stricken country's instability and a possible power struggle.
However, some critics afterwards pointed out that one major symptom of pancreatic cancer is obesity. The recent pictures of Kim showed him looking thinner and wearier.
Observers say fierce competition among media outlets for news about the reclusive and elusive North Korea is making some report speculation rather than facts
[Disinformation] [Media] [Cyberwar]
North’s role in Internet attack gets questioned
July 10, 2009
South Korea’s top intelligence body has claimed North Korea is behind the cyber attacks that paralyzed access to key government Web sites in South Korea and the United States.
But to some the question remains: How does it know?
[Cyberwar]
N.Korea's Powerful Hacker Army
North Korean cyber warriors are believed to have declared war on the South in the late 1990s. The regime is believed to employ 500-1,000 hackers who attack from third countries including China.
A report by military authorities here in 2006 estimated that North Korea's military hacking unit could paralyze U.S. Pacific Command and cause damage to the network on the U.S. mainland. The main briefs of these hackers are to steal secret documents or disseminate viruses by penetrating the computer networks of military agencies.
Last year, a hacking program was e-mailed to a South Korean Army colonel of a field command, which security authorities assume was done by North Korean military hackers.
[Cyberwar] [Spin]
NIS responds with cyber bukpung to cyber attack
NIS’s failure to provide evidence in pointing to N. Korea as DDOS attack source raises concern from opposition lawmakers about its political motivations
Controversy is growing as the National Intelligence Service (NIS) has failed to present any specific evidence to back up its claim that “North Korea or forces loyal to North Korea” were the source of a distributed denial of service (DDOS) attack on major government and business Internet sites, including those of the Cheong Wa Dae (the presidential office in South Korea or Blue House) and the NIS itself. In particular, with a Ministry of National Defense official declaring on Thursday that he has “not yet received a report with evidence about those responsible,” the Grand National Party (GNP) pressing for enactment of a “cyber terrorism prevention law,” and the Democratic Party and other opposition parties responding by saying the North Korea issue is once again being used for political ends, speculation about those behind the cyber attack is becoming a contentious political issue.
[Cyberwar] [Threat] [Evidence]
South Korean Web Sites Are Hobbled in New Round of Attacks
By Blaine Harden
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, July 10, 2009
TOKYO, July 9 -- South Korea was bombarded Thursday with a third wave of cyberattacks, which disrupted and in some cases halted access to government, banking and media Web sites.
Intelligence officials in Seoul, meanwhile, presented no hard evidence to support earlier suspicions that North Korea may have been behind the disruptions that have hit Web sites in South Korea and the United States in recent days
[Cyberwar] Evidence] [Spin]
Widespread havoc main aim of DDoS attacks
Experts are pointing to cyber terrorism aimed at causing mayhem as the primary purpose of the malicious software behind the recent spree of cyber attacks.
[Cyberwar]
Seoul suffers fallout from cyber attacks
Korea is facing a spiraling backlash for failing to nail down the culprit behind the latest cyber attacks on key government and corporate websites.
Security experts are now warning of a possible fourth wave of attacks on the weekend.
The government, which reportedly was alerted to the on-line attacks as early as July 4, was criticized for its delayed response.
"It took over eight hours to respond to the attacks on Tuesday, which seemed to be a prolonged response, especially considering the signs were there days before," said Rep. Park Young-sun of the DP.
Lawmakers have been continuously briefed on the attacks.
The National Intelligence Service told them yesterday that a North Korean cyber warfare unit appears to be responsible for spreading the distributed denial of service virus.
The spy agency has yet to offer concrete evidence to prove the link between the attacks and North Korea since Pyongyang was not on the list of nations from where the cyber assault may have been launched.
For now, the authorities say that the DDoS attacks, whose causative agent is thought to have been spread through five local and foreign websites, appears to be coming to an end as the host websites have been cut off.
The cut off websites are based in Austria, Germany, Georgia, Korea and the United States.
[Cyberwar] [Disinformation] [Evidence]
US officials eye North Korea in cyber attack
By LOLITA C. BALDOR
The Associated Press
Thursday, July 9, 2009; 12:40 AM
WASHINGTON -- U.S. authorities on Wednesday eyed North Korea as the origin of the widespread cyber attack that overwhelmed government Web sites in the United States and South Korea, although they warned it would be difficult to definitively identify the attackers quickly.
The powerful attack that targeted dozens of government and private sites underscored how unevenly prepared the U.S. government is to block such multipronged assaults.
While Treasury Department and Federal Trade Commission Web sites were shut down by the software attack, which lasted for days over the holiday weekend, others such as the Pentagon and the White House were able to fend it off with little disruption.
The North Korea link, described by three officials, more firmly connected the U.S. attacks to another wave of cyber assaults that hit government agencies Tuesday in South Korea. The officials said that while Internet addresses have been traced to North Korea, that does not necessarily mean the attack involved the Pyongyang government.
[Cyberwar] [Spin]
US and S Korea fall victim to cyber-attack
By Joseph Menn in San Francisco and Song Jung-a in Seoul
Published: July 8 2009 07:59 | Last updated: July 9 2009 00:11
Officials in the US and South Korea were scrambling on Wednesday to combat an unusually powerful cyber-attack that overwhelmed both government and private sector websites.
Malicious code recovered by researchers showed a batch of computers were instructed to attack websites in both nations. South Korean authorities said they suspected North Korea of being behind the electronic campaign.
[Cyberwar] [Spin]
DDOS attack strikes S. Korea
Experts are saying cyber attack originating from S. Korea was politically motivated and reveals weaknesses in national Internet security
A total of 26 domestic and foreign sites, including those of the Cheong Wa Dae (the presidential office in South Korea or Blue House), National Assembly, Ministry of National Defense, Grand National Party, Chosun Ilbo, Naver and the U.S. White House, were disrupted and paralyzed between Tuesday evening and Wednesday through an attack of concentrated traffic. Malicious code was spread into tens of thousands of personal computers turning them into zombie PCs overloading sites with connection requests and paralyzing them, resulting in a distributed denial of service (DDOS) attack. Whereas this DDOS attack differs from “hacking,” where someone with criminal intent penetrates a site’s firewall and removes or alters information, it is being characterized as the exposure of the defenseless of some of the nation’s leading public institutions’ web sites to a cyber-attack.
What distinguishes this week’s attack from previous DDOS attacks is the fact that it did not merely affect South Korea en route to other countries, but was created domestically and targeted 26 specific sites in South Korea and the U.S. Prosecutors revealed Wednesday afternoon that 90 percent of the computers used in the DDOS attack, or some 23 thousand computers, were located in South Korea. The White House in the U.S shut down connections with sites in South Korea on Tuesday evening because of the DDOS attack originating from South Korea. South Korea has become the epicenter of an international DDOS attack.
[Cyberwar]
Cyber attacks paralyze major sites
Spy agency says North is suspect; U.S. pages also hit
July 09, 2009
Chang Seok-hwa, team leader of the Cyber Terror Response Center under the National Police Agency, explains yesterday about a program that launches denial of service attacks on several major Web sites. [YONHAP]
A group of unidentified hackers simultaneously attacked Web sites of 11 major Korean government agencies, banks, portals and private businesses including the Blue House and the Defense Ministry beginning Tuesday night, leaving some paralyzed through late yesterday afternoon.
The National Intelligence Service suspects North Korea or its sympathizers may have been behind the attack, according to sources who spoke on condition of anonymity. The spy agency briefed some lawmakers on an individual basis or showed written reports that mention North Korea as the suspected attack source. The spy agency will report to the National Assembly intelligence committee today with its analysis, the sources said.
[Cyberwar] [Spin]
North Korea Tries to Ramp Up Tech Infrastructure
By Ken Stier Monday, Jun. 22, 2009
Returning home one spring five years ago from a secret visit to Beijing in his armored, fully wired train car, North Korean leader Kim Jong Il got an unnerving, firsthand demonstration of the potential downside of technology. A huge explosion ripped through the Ryongchon border station, and some officials initially thought it was an assassination attempt triggered by a cell phone. As it turned out, the fireball was more likely the result of two trains' colliding nearby, possibly as a result of miscommunication about changed schedules stemming from Kim's clandestine travels. But regardless of the actual cause, that still mysterious incident, which killed or injured 1,300, persuaded Kim to temporarily shelve plans for extending cell-phone coverage beyond the 20,000 wireless phones registered in the country at the time.
[ICT] [Cliche]
North starts news site for cell phones
May 22, 2009
North Koreans can now connect to an Internet news site on their mobile devices, though you can bet it’s not The New York Times or CNN.
A Web site has been created for cell phone users who wish to receive their national news “anytime, anywhere,” according to the Web site of North Korea’s Committee for Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland, an organ of the ruling Workers’ Party.
The committee said the site will carry daily national and Pyongyang news reported by the state-run Korean Central News Agency. North Korea doesn’t permit access to Web sites run from outside the country, but it has built official pages for such institutions as Kim Il Sung University.
North Korea had banned cell phone use since an explosion at Ryongchon rail station in April 2004, believing residents used the devices to leak the news to the outside world. Mobile service resumed last December when an Egyptian company launched a service capable of providing video calls.
By Jeong Yong-soo [jeeho@joongang.co.kr]
Technology for Creating Comprehensive Greenbelt Developed
Pyongyang, May 21 (KCNA) -- The Institute of City Management Science under the State Academy of Sciences has of late developed the technology for laying out comprehensive greenbelts, drawing the attention of the people.
The technology makes it possible to cover the whole country with forests on a long-term basis by solving the technical issues arising in working out plans for afforestation and in implementing them to suit the actual conditions of the country.
Scientists of the institute have also made many successes in breeding and cultivating soil-covering plants suitable for the climate and natural features of the country.
They have bred new kinds of superior turf by crossing golden turf strong in resistance to drought and blight and rather endurable to treading with other species of turf which keep green color for a long time and are resistant to cold.
They also developed a technology of cultivating turf without soil so as to increase turf output and save manpower and time.
This technology has been applied widely to main streets and various districts of Pyongyang City and various local areas of the country.
N. Korea Operates Cyber War Unit
North Korea operates a cyber warfare unit that seeks to disrupt South Korean and U.S. military networks and visits U.S. military sites more frequently than any other country, intelligence sources in Seoul said Tuesday.
The General Staff of the North's Korean People's Army has been operating for years a "technology reconnaissance team," which is exclusively in charge of collecting information and disrupting military computer networks in South Korea and the U.S., Yonhap News Agency said, quoting the anonymous sources.
Roughly 100 hackers, mostly graduates of a leading military academy in Pyongyang, work on the team, hacking into South Korean and U.S. computer networks, withdrawing classified information and establishing combat simulations, they said.
[Cyberwar]
DPRK cell phone subscribers top 20,000- costs, services detailed
Posted Date : 2009-04-22 (NK Brief No. 09-4-22-1)
Since 3G cellular phones were first offered in North Korea last December, more than 20,000 customers have signed up for service. According to a recent report by the Choson Sinbo’s Pyongyang correspondent, the North’s cellular network is capable of providing voice and SMS services to as many as 126,000 customers in the Pyongyang area and along the highway between Pyongyang and Hyangsan, and is available to North Korean residents as well as foreigners in the North.
Anyone can procure a cell phone in the North by submitting required information on an application to a service center, along with an application fee of 50 Yuan, or approximately one Euro, or 130 Yen. Currently, telephones are selling for between 110 Euros for basic handsets, to as much as 240 Euros for phones with cameras and other functions. When a phone is turned on, a white ‘Chollima’ horse graphic appears over ‘Koryolink’ in blue, all with a red background. The trademark is said to mean, “The Choson spirit, moving forward at the speed of the Chollima to more quickly and more highly modernize the information and communication sector.”
As has been previously reported, the service is provided by CHEO Technology Joint Venture Company, owned by the Choson Posts and Telecomm Corporation (KPTC) and Egypt’s Orscom Telecom Holding.
CHEO Technology plans to extend the coverage area to every major city, along all highways and along major rail routes throughout the country by the end of the year, with the ultimate goal of providing cellular service to every residential area in the nation by 2012.
[ICT] [IJV] [FDI]
24th National Scientific and Technological Festival Opens
Pyongyang, April 22 (KCNA) -- The 24th national scientific and technological festival was opened with due ceremony at the Three-Revolution Exhibition on Wednesday.
The festival brought together officials, scientists, technicians and workers who were highly praised at the local scientific and technological festivals for having presented scientific and technological successes helpful to accelerating the building of an economic power.
New Technology Introduced into Data Service
Pyongyang, March 13 (KCNA) -- The Grand People's Study House in Pyongyang has recently registered many successes in the research for serving science and technology to those working on sites.
Researchers of the house have made various technological achievements so that scientists of research institutions and technicians of factories and enterprises can read and use in time necessary scientific and technological documents and the data on latest trend.
The development of new publication checking technology enables those of research institutions and production units to select and read in time newly released data on science and technology without leaving their working sites.
The newly-developed data analysis technology is very effective in the application of new technologies to production.
Number of DPRK mobile phone subscribers jumps
Posted Date : 2009-03-12 (NK Brief No. 09-3-12-1)
After normal citizens of North Korea were granted permission to use the country’s new mobile phone network, the number of subscribers has already climbed to more than 6,500.
On March 3, Shanghai’s ‘Dongfang Satellite TV’ aired a report titled, “North Korean government permitted average citizens to use mobile phones, too.” Only a few years ago, owning a mobile phone in North Korea signified one’s status as a member of the elite class, as its use was banned to normal citizens, but now, North Korean residents have reported that the government allows them to purchase and use mobile phones, with some stating that the service was likely to considerably change their everyday lives.
According to the report, many people have flocked to a new store in the country’s capital specializing in mobile phone sales. It was said that on March 2, as many as 100 residents were lined up in front of a store in downtown Pyongyang in order to purchase a new phone, with some new owners unable to control their excitement as they immediately placed calls and investigated all of the phone’s functions.
The Egyptian firm Orascom Telecom has been providing 3G mobile phone service, initially only to the North’s elite, since last December, but this is not the first time North Korea has had a mobile service provider. In November, 2002, a European-based GSM service network was established. However, after the 2004 explosion at the Yongchon train station, which Kim Jong Il’ train had recently passed through as he returned from a visit to China, mobile phone service was heavily restricted among rumors that a mobile phone-triggered bomb may have been behind the deadly incident.
[FDI]
The Internet Black Hole That Is North Korea
By Tom Zeller Jr.
Published: October 23, 2006
THE tragically backward, sometimes absurdist hallmarks of North Korea and its leader, Kim Jong-il, are well known. There is Mr. Kim’s Elton John eyeglasses and strangely whipped, cotton-candy hairdo. And there is the North Korean “No! Yeeesssss ... No! O.K. Fear the tiger!” school of diplomacy.
A newer, more dangerous sort of North Korean eccentricity registered around 4.0 on the Richter scale earlier this month — a nuclear weapon test that has had the world’s major powers scrambling, right up through last week, to develop a policy script that would account for Mr. Kim’s new toy.
[Bizarre]
Pyongyang University of Science & Technology (PUST)
By Suk Hi Kim
December 24^th , 2008
Suk Hi Kim, Editor of /North Korean Review/ (www.northkoreanreview.com ), writes, “PUST is North Korea’s first institution of higher education founded, operated, and funded by associations and people outside the country… PUST plans to train talented young North Korean people in the fields of information and communication technology, industrial management, agriculture, food and life science, architecture, joinery and construction, and public health.
The major challenge that faces the university is related to maintaining its financial resources.”**
[Education]
DPRK's Kim Jong Il calls for IT dev't
www.chinaview.cn 2008-12-17 11:09:39 Print
PYONGYANG, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- Developing information technology (IT) should be the most important task for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), the official Rodong Sinmun daily quoted the country's top leader as saying Wednesday.
During his recent inspection tour of an electronics institute, a library and a pharmaceutical factory in Kanggye city of Jagang province, Kim Jong Il said it was necessary to work out a plan for developing IT to realize informatization of all national economic sectors.
It is important to give priority to scientific research, especially the IT field, said Kim, adding that the DPRK should encourage the training of more IT talents.
Kim also called for expanding computer networks to remote areas in order to "enable a lot of people to read anything in any place."
Orascom to Invest in North Korean Phone Venture
(Update2)
By Tarek Al-Issawi
Dec. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Orascom Telecom Holding SAE of Egypt will offer mobile-phone services in North Korea starting next week, the first foreign telecommunications company to invest in the Stalinist state.
Orascom, the biggest mobile-phone company in the Middle East, rose 9.8 percent in Cairo after a spokeswoman who declined to be named disclosed the investment in a telephone interview today. The gain was Orascom’s biggest in two months.
The Egyptian phone company, trying to offset a slowdown in Pakistan and Bangladesh, estimates it will spend $400 million on a cellular license and investment over three years. Orascom joins OAO Russian Railways and Emerson Pacific Group among a handful of companies in North Korea. The reclusive nation’s economy has been ravaged by famine and U.S. sanctions over its nuclear program.
“It’s a new, untapped market,” said Teymour El-Derini, a trader in Cairo at Beltone Securities Brokerage. “If you believe in North Korea, and that it will eventually open up, it’s an excellent market for Orascom.”
[Sanctions] [FDI] [Opening]
Telecommunications in North Korea: Has Orascom Made the Connection?
By Marcus Noland
December 10th, 2008
Marcus Noland, Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, writes, “If fully realized, the Orascom venture would represent a major foreign investment in the North Korean economy… and in the context of generally favorable trends in external relations, a successful outcome could have a favorable knock-on precedential effect with respect to future infrastructural deals.”
[FDI]
North Korea: an upcoming software destination
Surprising business opportunities in Pyongyang
Dutch companies are increasingly conducting Information Technology projects in low-cost countries. Also known as offshore sourcing, this way of working means that labor-intensive activities, such as the programming of computer software, are being done abroad. Asia is the most popular software destination, and Indian IT firms are involved in large projects for Dutch enterprises such as ANB Amro Bank, KLM, Philips or Heineken. More recently, we notice a growth in the software collaboration with China.
As a Dutch IT consultant, I am specialized in offshore software development projects, and I regularly travel to India and China. Recently, I was invited for a study tour to an Asian country which I had never visited before: North Korea. I had my doubts whether to accept this invitation. After all, when we read about North Korea, it is mostly not about its software capabilities. The current focus of the press is on its nuclear activities and it is a country where the Cold War has not even ended, so I was not sure if such a visit would be useful. And finally, such a trip to a farshore country would at least take a week.
(10 October 2006)
National Software Contest and Exhibition Opens
Pyongyang, October 24 (KCNA) -- The 19th National Software Contest and Exhibition was opened.
Displayed there are hundreds of computer application programs of Korean style developed by scientists, technicians, youth and students from across the country and data contributed by different ministries and national institutions and units about their introduction of IT to production, technological updating and business management.
76 Pro-N.Korea Websites Working Overseas
The National Police Agency is monitoring a total of 76 pro-North Korea websites overseas. According to data on the NPA submitted to Grand National Party lawmaker Lee Bum-rae of the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee, of the websites with servers abroad, 31 in the U.S., 19 in Japan, 13 in China, 4 in Germany, and 9 in other countries.
Some pro-Pyongyang websites reportedly use disguised domain names, such as "...book center," "...Korean music," "...university," "...bank," "...baduk," or "...travel agency," instead of names that are easily indicative of North Korea.
The NPA said it has also asked or advised web portals to delete a total of 6,377 pro-Pyongyang postings since the inauguration of the Roh Moo-hyun administration in February 2003. The number has been on the increase ? from 1,010 in 2004 to 1,434 in 2007. Until August this year, the NPA already asked web portals to delete a total of 1,035 such postings.
[Human rights]
Pyongyang to Start Public Mobile Service in December
By Sunny Lee
Korea Times Correspondent
BEIJING ? People in Pyongyang, if they can afford a cell phone, may be able to use one starting December, with the help of an Egyptian telecom company.
Orascom Telecom, a Cairo-based phone company, won the first mobile phone license in North Korea in January and has been working on building the necessary infrastructure in the capital city. In December it plans to provide a citywide mobile phone service to the general public.
The reclusive country only allows an exclusive group of cadre and foreign diplomats to use mobile phones. These "authorized people" are using a GSM-based mobile service. Orascom, however, uses 3G WCDMA technology, the person told the Korea Times.
In North Korea, mobile phones have been off-limits to the general public. In fact, cell phones are particularly sensitive in North Korea as security officials there believe that a cell phone was responsible for the 2004 failed assassination attempt on Kim Jong-il.
The incident saw the deaths of 170 North Koreans. Since then North Korea has banned citizens from using mobile phones in the country.
Bird Flu Differential Method Established in DPRK
Pyongyang, August 11 (KCNA) -- Researches for a strict and prompt prevention of possible outbreak and spread of bird flu have carried out in the DPRK, which have culminated in some significant successes.
Scientists of the Branch Academy of Cell and Gene Engineering under the State Academy of Sciences have collected and classified analytical data on thousands of viruses belonging to various subtypes which have been confirmed and publicized in the world in recent years.
On this basis, they have laid a scientific and technological foundation for an easy and accurate differentiation of subtypes of HA bird flu viruses from 1 to 15.
On the other hand, they have established a scientific and technological method of quickly differentiating NA subtypes from 1 to 9, which are more difficult to differentiate than HA subtypes because of the scarcity of confirmed data and their excessive variability.
Now they are making confirming experiments on a high standard in contact with relevant units.
N.Korea Likely to Provide Internet Service from 2009
It seems likely that North Korea will finally join the worldwide web and provide Internet service from next year. Kim Sang-myung, the chief of the North Korea Intellectuals Solidarity, a group of former North Korean professionals, at a symposium in the National Assembly on Wednesday said, "According to the Internet Access Roadmap it launched in 2002, North Korea will begin providing Internet service for special agencies and authorized individuals as early as next year."
North Korea is strongly determined to be part of the global community through the Internet," he said. "After watching China and Vietnam control the Internet effectively although these countries have opened up Internet wireless networks since the early days of their opening, the North has concluded that it can now introduce the Internet service."
[ICT] [Opening]
Publication of 5,000th Issue of "New Technology Information" Marked
Pyongyang, August 5 (KCNA) -- A meeting was held at the People's Palace of Culture on Monday to mark the publication of the 5,000th issue of "New Technology Information."
Present at the meeting were Pyon Yong Rip, president of the State Academy of Sciences, officials in the fields of science and media, and officials, journalists, editors and employees of the Central Scientific and Technological Information Agency.
Ju Song Ryong, director of the Central Scientific and Technological Information Agency, in his report recalled that President Kim Il Sung gave an important instruction on writing "New Technology Information" on May 5, Juche 77 (1988).
DPRK Students Prove Successful at Int'l Mathematic Olympiad
Pyongyang, July 30 (KCNA) -- DPRK students carried away two gold medals and four silver medals at the 49th International Mathematic Olympiad held in Spain from July 15 to 21.
Students at Pyongyang Middle School No. 1 smoothly solved mathematic problems in various fields including number theory, algebra, geometry and combination set forth by the Olympiad.
Exhibition on Medical Scientific and Technological Development
Pyongyang, July 28 (KCNA) -- The 11th National Exhibition of Successes in Science and Technology of Public Health opened at the Three Revolution Exhibition in Pyongyang on July 21. It will remain open till 29.
Displayed in the exhibition are more than 2,000 inventions and new technological achievements made by medical workers, scientists and technicians of public health establishments at all levels across the country.
Conspicuous are new methods and medicines which are of great value in diagnosis, prevention and treatment of diseases, including "System for transmitting general image (sound) of operating theatre", "Chemical prevention of three-day fever malaria by primaquine" and "Nutritious pills of natural vitamins".
Researches into Migratory Birds Intensified
Pyongyang, June 13 (KCNA) -- Researches into migratory birds are plumbing new depth in the DPRK.
Ri Su Yong, chief of the Zoological Institute under the State Academy of Sciences, told KCNA that the institute, as part of the work for the prevention of bird flu, marked off survey districts in the areas where the flying routes of migratory birds crisscross to concentrate researches on them.
He went on:
Researchers who have gone out to the east and west coastal areas have chosen stationary observation stations, showing deep interests in a correct ascertainment of the species of the migratory birds and their number by using various photographing and observation apparatus suitable to the local conditions.
At the same time the institute is pushing ahead with joint researches with associated units including epizootic prevention centers.
Their energetic efforts have produced a series of results in researches into the routes of migratory birds and their contact with man, poultry or animals.
N.Korea 'Looking to Export GPS Jammer to Mid East'
South Korean intelligence authorities have reportedly learned that North Korea has developed a device capable of jamming the GPS signals used by state-of-the-art guided missiles and precision bombs, and has been attempting to export the device to Middle East countries including Iran and Syria.
A South Korean government source on Wednesday said they are keeping a close eye on the communist country as they understand that North Korea has developed a GPS jammer by copying a Russian device, and has been looking to export it to the Middle East.
The source added that North Korea has been promoting the GPS jammer to several Middle Eastern countries by offering a better price than the Russian device.
Korean Wave Turns to Kids for New Export Growth
Korean animation is sweeping the world, promoting the culture to a global audience. "Pororo the Little Penguin," which began airing on Education Broadcasting System in 2003, has been exported to 81 nations so far, including France where it has won viewing ratings of a whopping 57 percent on the country's largest terrestrial channel TF1. "Iron Kid" recently began airing across the U.S., topping the ratings list of terrestrial channels. "King of Card Mix Master" has been exported to 25 nations, and "Janggeum's Dream" to 27. Korean animation earned US$66.8 million from exports in 2006, compared to the $24.5 million earned overseas by Korean cinema. These cartoons for kids are emerging as a new edge of the Korean Wave.
[Animation] [Hallyu]
Computer Multimedia Literary Library Brought out
Pyongyang, May 6 (KCNA) -- Kim Il Sung University has recently brought out a computer multimedia literary library named "Mirae" (version 2.0).
It contains more than a million pages of books along with 350,000 lemmas.
The number of its letters amounts to 300,000,000.
Among the data are famous art pieces created by the three generals of Mt. Paektu and their works, aphorisms of General Secretary Kim Jong Il and books and materials for studying the Juche idea.
In addition, it gives more than 10,000 literary works including a series of novels "Immortal History", "Immortal Leadership" and "On the One Road of Loyalty", selection of Korean classical literature, selection of Korean modern literature, selection of Korean short novels, selection of world literature and selection of world children's literature, which have been published in the DPRK. It also reflects the "Grand Dictionary of Literature", "Grand Korean Dictionary ", history of literature and literary theory and various kinds of common knowledge.
The "Mirae" (version 2.0) is being widely disseminated through CD and homepage.
23rd National Festival of Science and Technology Held
Pyongyang, May 3 (KCNA) -- The 23rd national festival of science and technology took place at the Three-Revolution Exhibition from April 28 to May 2.
The festival brought together more than 700 participants from 400 odd units including scientific research institutes, educational organs, factories, enterprises and cooperative farms across the country. Among them were officials, scientists, technicians and working people.
Officials, Scientists and Technicians in Field of Software Technology Commended
Pyongyang, April 30 (KCNA) -- Citations were awarded to officials, scientists and technicians who have contributed to the development of software technology.
In recent years they have studied and developed lots of new and efficient software, greatly contributing to developing the nation's computer technology and carrying out its technical revolution.
Nosotek is the first western IT venture in DPRK(North Korea).
In DPRK, software engineers are selected from the mathematics elite and learn from the ground-up assembler to C#, Linux kernel to Visual Basic macros.
Among them, Nosotek has attracted the cream of local talent as the only company in Pyongyang offering western working conditions and Internet access.
In addition to the accessible skill level Nosotek was set-up in DPRK because IP secrecy and minimum employee churn rate are structurally garanteed.
Nosotek sells direct access to its 50+ programmers jointly managed by western and local managers.
Services can be invoiced through a Hong-Kong or Chinese company.
[ICT] [Software] [Offshoring] [Sanctions] [IJV]
Nosotek: First European software firm based in DPRK
Ju Jong Chol: Nosotek is the first European-invested software development & research company in the DPRK, with the head office in Pyongyang.
It is founded by the General Federation of Science and Technology (GFST) of DPRK and experienced European IT-entrepreneurs. Felix Abt, the president of the European Business Association (www.eba-pyongyang.org) is one of Nosotek’s directors.
Nosotek is jointly run by European IT engineers together with their Korean counterparts. We have presently 50 engineers and a strong production line. We expect rapid growth thanks to our qualified, experienced and committed staff.
Klaus-Martin Meyer: What are Nosotek’s main products?
Ju Jong Chol: As we specialize on offshore IT outsourcing services we already have produced a large range of software products. Among our finished products, you find scientific software, video games, web applications, embedded software and 3D virtualization tools.
Klaus-Martin Meyer: How difficult is it for you to acquire international business? What exactly are the main challenges?
Ju Jong Chol: Currently the main problem is the US sanctions against our country.
[Software] [Offshoring] [Sanctions] [IJV]
N. Korea sets up five-year science-technology development plan
Impoverished North Korea Wednesday announced a five-year plan to develop the nation's science and technology capabilities by 2012, when the communist state will mark the centennial of its late leader Kim Il-sung's birth.
"From this year we will start implementing the new five-year plan for the development of national science and technology ending in 2012," the North's Premier Kim Yong-il said in a report to a one-day parliamentary session.
Piano Manufacturing Technology Develops in DPRK
Pyongyang, March 31 (KCNA) -- The Pyongyang Piano Joint Venture Company is mass-producing new types of pianos with unique resonance structure.
The new ones whose tone quality has been improved with the introduction of new technology are popular among experts.
The pianos were appreciated by piano makers and dealers at the international musical instrument exhibitions held in Germany and the U.S. respectively in April 2004 and in January 2006.
[IJV]
New Technology Introduced to Nocturnal Electric Light Decoration
Pyongyang, April 3 (KCNA) -- A project for renewing the nocturnal electric light decoration is progressing apace in Pyongyang.
The nocturnal view of the city is getting more beautiful with the application of nocturnal electric light decoration to monumental edifices, public buildings, service establishments and street trees.
The Electric Light Ornament Research Center has developed and is applying a new type of electricity saver to the objects for the electric light ornament, thus saving a large amount of electricity.
It is a multi-purpose electricity saver for electric light ornament which has such functions as controlling current for electric light lamps, automatically switching on and off electricity in time and preventing accidents in the electric power system by overvoltage, overcurrent, overload and others.
The device makes it possible to save 20 percent of electricity while fully ensuring the effect of electric light ornaments.
DPRK students in international computer competition
NCNK Newsletter 2: Dark Horse
March 24, 2007
Each year, the world's top computer programming college students participate in an international computer programming contest the organizers call "the most prestigious in the world." Through the International Collegiate Programming Contest, organized by the Association for Computing Machinery and funded by IBM, tens of thousands of students compete in three-person teams in local, regional, and, finally, the world final to win one of three or four medals
In the second issue of the NCNK Newsletter below, Dr. Stuart Thorson, Professor of Political Science at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University and Fredrick F. Carriere, Vice President and Executive Director of The Korea Society, describe how college students from the DPRK began competing in this annual "Battle of the Brains."
Dark Horse
Stuart Thorson (Syracuse University)
and Frederick F. Carriere (The Korea Society)
This story begins in 2002, when Syracuse University, working closely with The Korea Society, began a bilateral research collaboration in the area of integrated information technology with Kim Chaek University of Technology in Pyongyang, DPRK.
Several lessons seem clear. First, at least in several areas involving science cooperation, the DPRK is quite willing and able to engage international standards. Second, their best students are able to compete effectively with top students world-wide. Third, sincere cooperation begets trust and more cooperation. A research-focused effort on digital libraries produced, along the way, an eagerness to send undergraduates to Beijing to participate in global science academic competitions. Academic exchanges, once trust is developed, can result in unanticipated and high value outcomes for all participants.
[Opening] [Training] [ICT]
Business trip/ IT Study tour to the "11th International Trade Fair"
Business trip to the "11th International Trade Fair" (Pyongyang, May 2008)
North-Korea is slowly opening up to the outside world. The trade with neighboring China and South-Korea is already growing fast, and also several European companies are conducting business. An excellent way to collect information and to make new contacts is by visiting the annual "International Trade Fair", which takes place from 12-15 May in Pyongyang. European companies interested in exploring business opportunities in North-Korea are invited to join our 10-17 May IT-business mission. The participants will be offered a tailormade program, with a focus on the International Trade Fair.
For European companies, it is possible to make use of the collective European stand: for only 600 Euro, they can present their products or services to the public (or have them presented by local staff).
Offshore IT- and multimedia studytour to China and North-Korea (10-17 May)
The main focus of the business mission is to explore IT opportunities in North Korea. The goal of this studytour is to give the participants detailed information about offshoring. The IT-participants will visit firms in Pyongyang in the field of IT, animation, 2D and 3d design, cartoons, computer games, mobile games, and BPO. The business mission will have an informal character, with some attention to cultural or touristic elements. The trip will start in Beijing, and after returning from North Korea, an extension of the stay in China is possible in order to visit additional firms. The program of the tour has been added, and can also be found at: ,A HREF=www.gpic.nl/NK-IT-tour.pdf> www.gpic.nl/NK-IT-tour.pdf
[Offshoring] [ICT] [Animation]
North Korea to Allow Mobile Phones in Pyongyang
FEBRUARY 19, 2008 03:11
The Tokyo Shimbun reported on Feb. 18 that North Korea plans to lift its ban on the use of
mobile phones in April starting from Pyongyang, quoting a source in Beijing.
Some four years have passed since the communist regime prohibited mobile phone services
after an explosion in the city of Ryongchon adjacent to the border of China in April 2004.
North Korea’s Central News Agency announced in January 2007 that the country agreed to
cooperate with Egypt’s Orascom Telecom in the area of communication.
The Tokyo Shimbun reported that the telecommunication company had announced that it won the
right to provide mobile phone services at the end of last month, adding the North’ lifting
of ban is seen as a follow-up measure.
The Egyptian company announced that that its subsidiary, 25 percent of which is going to be
owned by North Korea’s state-run Korea Post and Telecommunications Corp., won the right to
provide mobile phone services. Orascom said the license was valid for 25 years and it plans
to invest up to $400 million in network infrastructure and license fees.
The mobile phone services in the North will use W-CDMA, a 3G technology used in countries
such as South Korea and Japan. It is known to support a video call and high-speed data
transmission.
The newspaper added that the North will expand service areas gradually.
N.Korea Opens Online Shopping Mall
North Korea has opened its first internet shopping mall and is now selling hundreds of items online. An "e-shop" section was added to North Korea's official business information site Chollima (www.dprk-economy.com/en/Shop/index.php).
The shop's 14 product categories include machinery, building materials, vehicles, industrial art objects, foodstuffs, daily necessities, stamps, artworks, movies and software. The website even says it accepts credit cards.
The government in Pyongyang recently launched the site in a joint venture with a company in Shenyang, China.
After selecting items and clicking the "order" button, customers can enter their e-mail address or other contact information. The China-based administrator will then contact customers for their credit card number to process the order.
The site was designed and built by North Korea while the Chinese company is renting the Internet server.
This is the first time that North Korea has operated a globally-accessible online shopping mall. The Chollima website also includes North Korean news and economic and trade policies in Korean, English and Chinese for foreign customers and investors.
Kim Jong Il Goes round Programs Displayed at National Program Contest and Exhibition
Pyongyang, January 21 (KCNA) -- General Secretary Kim Jong Il went round programs displayed at the 18th national program contest and exhibition.
He was greeted on the spot by Paek Chon Ho, vice-president of the State Academy of Sciences, Ryu Sun Ryol, rector of the College of Information Science and Technology of Kim Chaek University of Technology, and officials concerned.
Displayed there were many programs developed by universities including Kim Il Sung University, Kim Chaek University of Technology and the University of Science, the Pyongyang Information Centre, the Central Scientific and Technological Information Agency and other institutes.
Being briefed on the contest and exhibition, he looked round exhibits for a long while to acquaint himself in detail with the performance of programs and their development.
Multi-Media E-Dictionary Produced
Pyongyang, December 28 (KCNA) -- A multi-media E-dictionary "large literary and art dictionary" was compiled and produced by the Academy of Social Sciences.
The dictionary contains at least 14,500 entries, more than 6,800 image files and over 780 sound files which help deeply understand the successes made by the Juche-oriented literature and arts and world literature and arts.
It has many famous works published by President Kim Il Sung and leader Kim Jong Il while leading the field of literature and arts and masterpieces such as poems and songs, revolutionary operas and dramas created by the three generals of Mt. Paektu and explanations about them.
The dictionary also contains works and other writings done by members of the revolutionary family of the President in Mangyongdae.
It deals in detail with information about famous creators of Korea and various other countries of the world from the ancient times to the modern ones and literary and art works written by them.
This huge dictionary helps its users quickly and correctly search required files by diverse methods.
S.Korean IT Leaders to Talk Cooperation in Pyongyang
The two Koreas will step up cooperation in the IT sector amid brisk inter-Korean economic cooperation since an inter-Korean summit in early October. According to the Unification Ministry on Tuesday, heads of eight South Korean IT companies, including Dasan Networks CEO Nam Min-woo, will leave for Pyongyang on Wednesday at the invitation of North Korean authorities. They will discuss measures to facilitate inter-Korean IT cooperation with officials of North Korea’s Samcholli General Corp. during a four-day stay that ends on Dec. 1.
The North’s National Economic Cooperation Federation sent an invitation to Nam on Oct. 9, shortly after the inter-Korean summit. The NECF is in charge of inter-Korean economic cooperation projects and has Samcholli General Corp., Gaesun Trading Corp. and Kwangmyongsung General Corp under its umbrella. Nam said inter-Korean IT cooperation began shortly after the first inter-Korean summit in 2000, when South Korean IT companies used a North Korean labor pool in developing software in Dandong, China. He said the two Koreas will "exchange a wide range of ideas" to further IT cooperation by taking advantage of improved inter-Korean relations. He predicted the two Koreas will discuss the establishment of a software development complex in Pyongyang or Kaesong based on their experience of jointly developing computer programs in Dandong.
[Inter Korean business]
Imaginary Space Probe System
Pyongyang, November 22 (KCNA) -- Young scientists of the Pyongyang Information Center have developed an imaginary space probe system which can give answers to questions and dreams about outer space among the school youth and children.
It is a program which gives them detailed knowledge of the solar system and planets and enables them to make an imaginary space expedition by using a computer as an imaginary astronomic observation center.
N. Korean leader calls himself 'Internet expert'
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il called himself an "Internet expert" during his summit talks with South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun in Pyongyang on Wednesday, according to the South's summit delegates.
Kim allegedly made the remark as Roh suggested opening the Internet at the South-invested industrial park in the North's border town of Kaesong, said the delegates.
"At the summit talks, Roh stressed the need to help facilitate business operations of South Korean firms operating at the Kaesong industrial park by opening Internet service there. But Kim turned down Roh's offer," said a delegate, asking to remain anonymous.
"The North Korean leader called himself an Internet expert and said many problems would arise if the Internet at the Kaesong park is connected to other parts of North Korea," said the delegate.
Indeed, Roh said during his visit to Kaesong on Thursday that Kim seems to be very familiar with the technical aspects of the Internet.
A North Korean official also told South Korean reporters during the summit talks that Kim has a deep interest in information technology, and instructed the launch of an information technology project at a public library in Pyongyang.
The British weekly news magazine The Economist reported last February that North Korean leader Kim has interests in modern technology beyond dabbling in nuclear weapons, believing there are three kinds of fools in the 21st century: smokers, the tone-deaf and computer illiterates.
NK's Country Domain '.KP' Gets Nod
By Jane Han
Staff Reporter
Its just a matter of time before North Korea meets the world through the World Wide Web, as its domain ``.kp'' has recently been delegated for use.
The domain .kp _ short for Korea, Democratic People's Republic _ allocated to North Korea, but currently not in use, has been officially designated by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to be managed by the Pyongyang-based Korea Computer Center (KCC).
The international organization's board voted unanimously in mid-September to accept KCC's request to activate the domain.
Although an initial request was made in 2004, ICAAN declined permission due to the country's lack of technology, management and governmental support.
Korea Online
By Andrei Lankov
(467)
On May 15, 1982, a computer in the Computer Science Department of Seoul National University was connected to a computer in the Institute of Electronic Technology. Several months later, in January 1983, a third computer joined the network. It was located at the Korean Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). Thus, the network known as SDN was born, and most reference books mention May 15, 1983 as the first birthday of the Korean Internet. In 1986, Korea acquired its top level domain, .kr (officially registered in July).
National Scientific and Technological Presentation on Bionics Held
Pyongyang, September 7 (KCNA) -- A national scientific and technological presentation on bionics was held on September 6 under the sponsorship of the Central Committee of the Korean General Federation of Science and Technology.
More than 80 items of valuable research results were made public at the presentation.
There were among them research results which make it possible to massively propagate and bring into bloom in all seasons Kimilsungia, and Kimjongilia, the flowers of the sun, and papers opening a prospect of raising high-yielding species of maize and potatoes and increasing their productivity by introducing the latest scientific and technological results.
Introduced there were bionic methods of separation of cells from the spinal nerve and pancreas cords and their incubation and test applicable to practice.
Well received by the participants were also research results in programming for identifying the types of viral diseases including bird flu and taking preventive measures against them and for saving bionic magazines and papers in databases and widely disseminating them.
North-East Asia Telephone and Telecommunications Co. Ltd. Directors' Board Meets
Pyongyang, September 3 (KCNA) -- The 22nd meeting of the North-East Asia Telephone and Telecommunications Co. Ltd. Directors' Board was held here Monday.
Present at the meeting were members of the delegation of Loxley Pacific Company Limited of Thailand led by Jingjai Hanchanlash, executive vice-president of the Loxley Public Company Limited of Thailand who is chairman of the North-East Asia Telephone and Telecommunications Co. Ltd. Directors' Board, and Kim In Chol, vice-chairman of the North-East Asia Telephone and Telecommunications Co. Ltd. Directors' Board, and other members of it.
The meeting discussed and agreed on issues related to the management and operation of the telecommunication equipment and facilities of the above-said company.
Science and Technology Presentation Held
Pyongyang, August 31 (KCNA) -- A national science and technology presentation in the field of environment preservation took place at the Grand People's Study House on Aug. 29 and 30.
It was held under the sponsorship of the Central Committee of the Korean General Federation of Science and Technology on the occasion of the 30th founding anniversary of the Environment Preservation Institute.
Presented there were at least 140 valuable papers on the fresh achievements made in the researches aimed at improving and strengthening the environment preservation.
Success in Infertility Treatment by IVF-ET
Pyongyang, August 30 (KCNA) -- The Pyongyang Maternity Hospital of the DPRK has made successes in infertility treatment by IVF-ET (in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer) in recent years.
Many IVF-ET babies were born in the country. Among them are twins.
Chief of the Infertility Clinic Hong Kyong Sun told KCNA that the rate of testified pregnancy has reached a high level thanks to the development of subsidiary reproductive technology.
The IVF-ET, a cutting-edge technology, artificially impregnates a woman who had failed to conceive a baby for some reasons.
CSTIA, Leading Information Service Base in DPRK
Pyongyang, August 21 (KCNA) -- The Central Scientific and Technological Information Agency (CSTIA) is a leading service base of scientific and technological information in the DPRK.
The CSTIA (then Information Agency under the Academy of Sciences) founded on August 5, Juche 52 (1963) renders rapidly and correctly latest scientific and technological achievements made at home and abroad to scientists, technicians, leading officials in the field of the economy and officials in industrial establishments and co-op farms and working people across the country.
It keeps in store a large amount of technical innovations, inventions and other valuable scientific and technological data made at home.
It collects the data of current trend and development of technology from the cardinal technical field including IT, nano-tech and bioengineering to the mechanical engineering, metallurgy and heat engineering, through scientific and technological exchange with various countries.
Anyone can use its well-built database any time.
N. Korea to Connect to Rest of World via Web
By Cho Jin-seo
Staff Reporter
Internet will be the first gateway to outside world for North Korea when the tension on the Korean peninsular eases after the South-North summit, an expert said Thursday.
It will be a natural choice for the self-enclosed nation to connect its network to the global Internet if it wants to be a member of global society, said Koh Yoo-hwan, professor of Dongguk University.
``Kim Jong-il has great interest in the information technology sector,'' Koh said. ``Pyeongyang has kept its network closed from the outside because it was concerned about the Web's possible influence on its regime. But if it wants to come out to the international society, it is inevitable to utilize the Internet, first of all.''
North Korea is one of few nations in the world where the Internet is not open to the public. But Koh said that there already are broadband networks set up in North Korea. A computer technology center was also opened by the order of Kim, he said.
Like South Korean Web sites use ``.kr'' for their internet domain address and Chinese sites have ``.cn,'' the ``.kp'' domain was allocated to North Korea but the country never officially asked for the use of the dormant domain.
Korean Computer Animators Rising to Challenge Hollywood
Local Computer Graphics Firm Wows Hollywood
'D-War' Stirs Up Sensation
The recent turnaround in Korea's movie industry is helping local producers of computer graphics (CG) to challenge the world. "D-War," a sci-fi monster flick produced completely with Korean CG technology, is expected to record five million viewers in just 10 days of release. In addition, Korean software garnered rave reviews at the world's top CG show this week. In other words, a Korean CG company has formally thrown down the gauntlet to Hollywood.
It's been less than two years since computer graphics were fully adopted by domestic films. In that relatively short period, the quality of Korea's work has almost reached that of "The Lord of the Rings" or "Spider-man." A case in point is "Digital Actor" made by the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute at a cost of W30 billion (US$1=W931). The actor, much like Golum from "The Lord of the Rings," was made entirely by computer graphics
[Animation]
IT tour to DPRK
Dutch IT consultant Paul Tjia working in collaboration with Korea Computer Center is organising a tour in October for companies interesting in offshoring
Paul Tjia writes:
There is a significant growth in offshore sourcing of Information Technology, and many companies are investigating the advantages of international IT-collaboration. Countries such as India and China are already important suppliers of software services. It is interesting to note that several Chinese companies are currently outsourcing IT work to neighboring North Korea, which is also a 'nearshore' destination for clients from Japan and South Korea. European software firms are exploring North Korea as well.
In order to investigate the capabilities in North Korea in detail, a unique studytour will take place from 6 - 13 October. The goal of the mission is to give the participants detailed information about offshoring, and especially about the opportunities in North Korea. The delegation will visit firms in Pyongyang in the field of IT, animation, cartoons, computer games and BPO (Business Process Outsourcing). The business mission will have an informal character, with some attention to cultural or touristic elements. The trip will start in Beijing, and after returning from North Korea, an extension of the stay in China is possible.
The organizer of this mission is KCC (Korea Computer Center), a major IT services provider in North Korea with offices in several cities, including Pyongyang and Beijing.
[ICT] [Offshoring]
National Presentation of Maritime Science and Technology Held
Pyongyang, August 1 (KCNA) -- A national presentation of maritime science and technology was held here on July 30 under the sponsorship of the Central Committee of the Korean General Federation of Science and Technology.
Present there were scientists and technicians of the Hydro-Meteorological Service, institutes under the State Academy of Sciences, Kim Il Sung University, Kim Chaek University of Technology and Pyongyang University of Construction and Building Materials Production and other maritime fields and related scientific and educational institutions.
The participants heard at least 70 papers.
Organization of North-South Korean R&D Team
2005-04-29
? The first joint IT R&D by North and South Korea
? KT signs an agreement with Korea Samchonri General Corporation for joint R&D
? Joint IT R&D and commercialization
A joint IT R&D project is launched subsequent to the opening of telephone lines between North and South Korea.
KT (CEO Lee Yong-gyeong) announced that it has signed an agreement with Korea Samchonri General Corporation of North Korea on April 27 for a joint R&D to be carried out in 2005.
According to the agreement signed at Mt. Geumgangsan Hotel in North Korea, KT and Korea Samchonri General Corporation are to develop a ‘service control system for personal mobile service using intelligent network’ and ‘continuous voice recognition program‘. The North and South Korean companies plan to hold technical meetings and discussions during the R&D project.
[IJV]
Urban India Web Users
› › › Geographics
By Enid Burns | July 5, 2007
Urban areas of India are home to 30.32 million Internet users according to a report by JuxtConsult. The Internet population rose 28 percent from April 2006 to April of this year.
Of the 30.32 million Web users, 25.17 million (83 percent) log on at least monthly, while 5.15 million (17 percent) are occasional users who go online less frequently. About 20 million users access the Web daily.
Internet penetration stand at 9 percent. Much of the growth of Internet adoption came from new home-based Internet users. Home usage accounts for 59 percent of Internet use, up 19 percent from the previous year. Place of work including offices, schools, and colleges accounts for 78 percent of Internet use, up 16 percent from last year. Internet cafes, thought to be an access point for those who can't afford a home computer or Web access accounts, remained stagnant with 47 percent of Internet usage, up 1 percent over the previous year. Cyber cafes serve as the only Internet access point for 1.4 percent of the regular Internet-using population.
Software Center to Be Created in NK
By Kim Tae-gyu
Staff Reporter
A private association composed of South Korea's major software developers plans to establish software centers in Pyongyang and Gaeseong late this year.
The Korea Software Financial Cooperative (KSFC) said Wednesday that it aims to sign a contract on the centers with its northern counterpart, Samcholli General Corp., this summer.
Such high-profile software companies as Samsung SDI, LG CNS, SK C&C and PosData are members of the Seoul-based association together with about 1,000 other outfits.
``We visited Pyongyang last week and agreed in principle to set up software centers in the capital city and Gaeseong Industrial Park,'' KSFC official Kim Seok-hyun said.
``We are now ironing out details. The best scenario is that we ink an agreement in July or August to open the centers late this year,'' said Kim who heads the North Korean project.
The envisioned centers will hire North Korean technicians and will come up with various computer programs demanded by 1,000-plus members of the KSFC.
``High-tech employees at the centers will develop software that will be used in the South or shipped out of the country,'' Kim said. ``The facilities are not symbolic ones aimed at improving the South-North relationship.''
Kim added the contract will be a win-win for the two Koreas that have been divided over the past half-century.
``We will be able to create software at much lower prices thanks to the cheap but experienced work force of the North rather than finding a low-wage platform in other countries,'' Kim said.
``In comparison, the North will earn dollars through the partnership as well as give its engineers an opportunity to learn advanced technology,'' he said.
In the long run, Kim said the software centers will roll out products, which were ordered by foreign companies to South Korean firms.
This is not the first time that a South Korean company attempted to take advantage of software-producing skills and know-how of the Northern engineers.
KT, the South's top fixed-line telecom operator, started developing sophisticated software via an outsourcing contract with Samcholli General Corp. in 2005.
voc200@koreatimes.co.kr
[FDI][JV]
US cartoons 'made in North Korea'
By Sunny Lee
Mar 14, 2007
BEIJING - North Korea is well known for its nuclear ambitions. But it is relatively little-known fact that the country is a hidden outsourcing mecca for the international animation industry, producing such well-known movies as The Lion King.
Even while North Korea has been under US-led sanctions that include a ban on commercial trade, several US animated films have allegedly been outsourced to the country, according to Beijing-based businessman Jing Kim, who says he was involved with American animation producer Nelson Shin's filmmaking
business in the Stalinist pariah state.
[Animation]
North Korea's IT revolution
By Bertil Lintner
BANGKOK - The state of North Korea's information-technology (IT) industry has been a matter of conjecture ever since "Dear Leader" Kim Jong-il famously asked then-US secretary of state Madeleine Albright for her e-mail address during her visit to the country in October 2000.
The answer is that it is surprisingly sophisticated. North Korea may be one of the world's least globalized countries, but it has long produced ballistic missiles and now even a nuclear arsenal, so it is actually hardly surprising that it also has developed advanced computer technology, and its own software.
Naturally, it lags far behind South Korea, the world's most wired country, but a mini-IT revolution is taking place in North Korea. Some observers, such as Alexandre Mansourov, a specialist on North Korean security issues at the Honolulu-based Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies (APCSS), believes that in the long run it may "play a major role in reshaping macroeconomic policymaking and the microeconomic behavior of the North Korean officials and economic actors respectively".
New Ore Pulp Transport Method Developed
Pyongyang, March 16 (KCNA) -- The Institute of the Industrial Technology under the Kim Chaek Iron and Steel Complex of the DPRK has developed a new ore pulp transport method by compressed air.
The pulp is transported through long-distance pipeline, being fed with compressed air several times.
While transportation, the ore pulp is agitated by the compressed air, which prevents the pipeline from being blocked. The new method reduces abrasion of the pipeline and correctly measures the transport amount.
It saves many facilities and electricity by using cheap air compressors. It also ensures the safety of work and remarkably increases the transport amount of ore pulp per hour.
Research Centers Run Out of Korea
By Kim Tae-gyu
Staff Reporter
Foreign companies' research and development (R&D) centers are leaving Korea, undermining the country's scheme of becoming the chief research hub of Northeast Asia.
Intel, the world's biggest chipmaker, plans to close its research lab in April. The company had originally promised to run it at least through 2008.
National Semiconductor, the U.S.-based semiconductor maker, has also reportedly decided to shut down its research center in Pundang, Kyonggi Province, in May.
While opening the R&D center back in 2005 with much fanfare, National Semiconductor pledged to strengthen the facility by tripling researchers by 2007.
Yet, National Semiconductor has failed to expand on its 10 researchers over the past two years and the research facility became the victim of restructuring.
These closures are causing concern that Korea is losing its appeal as a destination for research investment in competition with China.
[China competition]
Farming Put on Scientific Footing
Pyongyang, March 12 (KCNA) -- Efforts have been made to do farming in a scientific way in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. The Academy of Agricultural Science (AAS), on the basis of successes and experience made in introducing IT and science into farming, is striving to put agriculture on a scientific and technological footing.
The AAS is concentrating efforts on scientific agriculture this year, too, in cooperation with the Ministries of Agriculture and Education, other ministries and scientific institutes.
Scientists' Big Share in Updating of Economy
Pyongyang, March 9 (KCNA) -- The February 17 Shock Brigade of Scientists and Technicians is playing a great role in the campaign of updating the national economy in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
The brigade formed on February 17, Juche 67 (1978) is made up of scientists and technicians with different special knowledge.
The members of the brigade have been dispatched to industrial establishments and construction sites throughout the country to solve tasks of scientific research arising there and introduce significant technical inventions into production.
Successes Made in Micro-operation
Pyongyang, March 6 (KCNA) -- The hospital attached to Pyongyang University of Medicine has proved successful in the micro-operation of completely fractured arms and legs.
"Koryo Pen", Hand-Writing Input Program
Pyongyang, March 2 (KCNA) -- "Koryo Pen", a hand-writing input program developed by the Korean Computer Center is popular in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. It enables computer users to input various kinds of documents with an electronic pen without typing.
It is very convenient for those who are not good in typing.
With high character recognition ability, "Koryo Pen" can recognize most of hasty writing whose stroke orders are correct, to say nothing of correct characters.
Symbols and marks are analyzed, too.
There is little problem about a document with foreign characters.
Scientific and Technical Service Center in DPRK
Pyongyang, February 22 (KCNA) -- The Scientific and Technical Service Center under the DPRK State Academy of Sciences is engaged in introduction and propagation of information on advanced technology, various kinds of machines and equipment, production processes, products, books on science and technology at home and abroad, while rendering special technical services.
The center has collected an enormous amount of scientific and technological information on electricity, coal, metal, mining, electronic automation, agriculture, stock-breeding, fishery, communications, transportation and so on.
North Korea and the internet
Weird but wired
Feb 1st 2007 | PYONGYANG
From The Economist print edition
Online dating in Pyongyang? Surely not
KIM JONG IL, North Korea's dictator, has interests in modern technology beyond his dabbling in nuclear weaponry. In 2000 he famously asked Madeleine Albright, then America's secretary of state, for her e-mail address. Mr Kim believes there are three kinds of fool in the 21st century: smokers, the tone-deaf and the computer-illiterate.
One of his young compatriots is certainly no fool. “Officially, our computers are mainly for educational and scientific purposes,” he says, before claiming: “Chatting on our web, I also met my girlfriend.”
Internet dating is only one of the surprises about the internet in North Korea, a country almost as cut off from the virtual world as it is from the real one. At one of the rare free markets open to foreigners, brand-new computers from China are sold to the local nouveaux riches complete with Windows software. Elsewhere, second-hand ones are available far more cheaply. In most schools, computer courses are now compulsory.
New Program "Oryon" Made in DPRK
Pyongyang, February 7 (KCNA) -- The Information Center under Kim Il Sung University has made a new program "Oryon" (Version 1.0). It arouses interest among people. It is a kind of paduk (go) game program, in which one can play paduk with black and white stones. He or she, who puts five stones on the paduk board abreast vertical, horizontal or oblique line, in advance of his or her opposite, wins the game.
[Software]
Korea Beats France, UK in World Patent Apps
Korea filed 5,935 international patent applications under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) last year, making it the world’s fourth leading country of origin for PCT filings, surpassing the United Kingdom and France.
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Switzerland said Wednesday that the United States filed the most patent applications last year with 49,555 filings. Japan was second with 26,906, and Germany was third with 16,929.
The top ten applicants include France, the U.K., the Netherlands, China, Switzerland, and Sweden. Korea’s applications rose by 26.6 percent, boosting it up two rankings. China filed 3,910 applications, a rise of 56.8 percent and moving it from 10th place to number eight.
[IM]
RECORD YEAR FOR INTERNATIONAL PATENT FILINGS WITH SIGNIFICANT GROWTH FROM NORTHEAST ASIA
Press Release PR/476/2007
Geneva, February 7, 2007
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), the cornerstone of the international patent system, has since it began in 1978, seen continuous growth with a record 145,3001 applications filed in 2006, representing a 6.4% growth over the previous year. The most remarkable growth rates came from countries in north east Asia for the third year running and represented over a quarter (25.3%) of all international applications under the PCT. In 2006, the list was topped by applications from the United States of America (USA), Japan, Germany, Republic of Korea and France.
“The number of international patent applications continues to rise with impressive growth from north east Asian countries. Increasingly developing country economies are capitalizing on the tools of the intellectual property system for wealth creation,” said Mr. Francis Gurry, Deputy Director General who oversees the work of the PCT. "Innovation has been traditionally dominated by Europe and North America. New centers of innovation – in particular in northeast Asia - are emerging and this is transforming both the geography of the patent system and of future global economic growth” he added.
The Republic of Korea, which experienced 26.6% growth in 2006 as compared to 2005, overtook the United Kingdom and France to become the 4th biggest country of origin of PCT filings, and applicants from China, whose use grew by 56.8%, dislodged Switzerland and Sweden to take the position of 8th largest country of origin.
International patent applications received from developing countries in 2006 saw a 27.6% increase as compared to 2005, representing 8.2% of all international patent applications filed. This is largely due to the filings from the Republic of Korea (5,935)and China (3,910), followed by India (627), Singapore (402), South Africa (349), Brazil (265) and Mexico (150). Developing countries make up 79% of the membership of the PCT, representing 106 of the 136 countries that have signed up to the treaty to date.
The top ten users of the PCT from developing countries include: Huawei Technologies (China), LG Electronics (Republic of Korea), Samsung Electronics, (Republic of Korea), LG Chem (Republic of Korea), Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (Republic of Korea), ZTE Corporation (China), Agency for Science, Technology and Research (Singapore), Ranbaxy Laboratories (India), Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (India) and NHN Corporation (Republic of Korea).
[IM]
New Method Estimating Cold Resistance of Trees Developed
Pyongyang, February 2 (KCNA) -- The Branch Academy of Forestry under the State Academy of Sciences has established a new method of accurately estimating cold resistance of trees. According to Director Kim Yong, various kinds of trees to be estimated are planted in the same experimental plot to observe for 7-9 months. And then the measured values are analyzed in the mathematical modeling way.
It makes it possible to accurately estimate such cold resistance of the given trees as the minimum growth temperature and distributional height.
In particular, the estimation method by electric resistance needs less manpower and a short period. It can be applicable to all species of trees.
As one can measure the cold resistance of trees without wintering, the method is of great practical significance and attracts academic interest.
The economic effectiveness of the method has been proved through long trial application.
The wide introduction of the method has made a great progress in scientific research into forest and forestation including selecting proper ecological zones for valuable trees and acclimatization of plants.
Internet use in China jumps by almost 25 pc in 2006
BEIJING, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- China had 137 million people online by the end of last year, up by almost a quarter from 2005, the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) said Tuesday.
The number of Internet users rose by 23.4 percent to comprise 10.5 percent of the country's population, said the CNNIC in a report.
The statistics were based on telephone sample surveys of 32,325 Chinese, and only those above the age of six and use the Internet for at least one hour a week on average were counted as Internet users, said the CNNIC.
[ICT] [IM]
Presentation of Science and Technology of Mushroom Growing Held
Pyongyang, December 15 (KCNA) -- A national presentation of science and technology of mushroom growing was held in Pyongyang Thursday under the sponsorship of the Central Committee of the Korean General Federation of Science and Technology. It brought together scientists, technicians, teachers and cultivators who distinguished themselves in research and cultivation of mushroom. The attendants heard dozens of papers dealing with the achievements and experience gained in the tireless researches into the cultivation of more delicious mushroom of high nutritious value.
Academic Symposium on Scientific and Technological Information Held
Pyongyang, November 30 (KCNA) -- An academic symposium on scientific and technological information was sponsored by the Central Committee of the Korean General Federation of Science and Technology at the Grand People's Study House on Nov. 28 and 29. It was attended by officials, scientists and technicians in the field of information science and technology including Kim Il Sung University, the Academy of Medical Science, the Central Scientific and Technological Information Agency, Pyongyang Computer College and the Grand People's Study House.
The symposium heard many papers on scientific and technological information which are of significance in developing information technology and the national economy. The participants discussed successes and experience achieved in the research method of the third dimension information service including strategy information and tactics information and in the study of the decision support system, database system for information collection and analysis, process and search service and the information search system.
Kim Jong Il Provides Field Guidance to Hamhung University of Chemical Industry
Pyongyang, November 14 (KCNA) -- General Secretary Kim Jong Il provided field guidance to the Hamhung University of Chemical Industry. He looked round the monument to the on-site instructions given by President Kim Il Sung, the room for the education in the revolutionary history and the room devoted to the history of the university.
The Hamhung University of Chemical Industry, which was established on the personal initiative of the President and under his wise guidance and has covered a glorious path, has turned into a reliable seat for training dependable technical personnel, he said, adding that the undying revolutionary exploits performed by the President will shine long.
National University Computer Mock Experiment and Practice Contest Held
Pyongyang, October 26 (KCNA) -- A national university computer mock experiment and practice contest was held at Kim Chaek University of Technology from Oct. 18 to 23. It brought together teachers and researchers of at least 50 universities including Kim Chaek University of Technology and the University of Science. Presented there were more than 170 mock experiment and practice programs.
Many experiment and practice programs including "experiment to decide on the nature of low speed flow field", "mock experiment to analyze the drive system of an automobile in operation", "remote system to support mock computer experiment" and "mock practice program for diagnosis and treatment of intestinal obstruction" were highly appreciated at the contest.
7th National Computer Program Exhibition in Field of Education Held
Pyongyang, October 10 (KCNA) -- The 7th National Computer Program Exhibition in the Field of Education took place at the Three-Revolution Exhibition here from Oct. 3 to 9. This annual event is greatly contributing to the training of the information scientific and technological personnel and the nation's development of programming technology. Displayed at the exhibition were at least 560 valuable programs developed at dozens of universities, colleges and middle schools across the country. The exhibition was divided into the panels of informationalization at universities and schools and programs of academic value, commodity programs, programs for introduction and programs done by middle schoolers
North Korea: an upcoming software destination
Surprising business opportunities in Pyongyang
Much is being written about North-Korea and its nuclear activities. Not well-known yet is the fact that there is also peaceful cooperation taking place: North Korea is becoming a source for international software development. A growing number of foreign companies are outsourcing their software development activities to IT-firms in North-Korea.
Paul Tjia
10 October 2006
Dutch companies are increasingly conducting Information Technology projects in low-cost countries. Also known as offshore sourcing, this way of working means that labor-intensive activities, such as the programming of computer software, are being done abroad. Asia is the most popular software destination, and Indian IT firms are involved in large projects for Dutch enterprises such as ANB Amro Bank, KLM, Philips or Heineken. More recently, we notice a growth in the software collaboration with China.
As a Dutch IT consultant, I am specialized in offshore software development projects, and I regularly travel to India and China. Recently, I was invited for a study tour to an Asian country which I had never visited before: North Korea. I had my doubts whether to accept this invitation. After all, when we read about North Korea, it is mostly not about its software capabilities. The current focus of the press is on its nuclear activities and it is a country where the Cold War has not even ended, so I was not sure if such a visit would be useful. And finally, such a trip to a farshore country would at least take a week.
Nevertheless, I decided to visit this country. This decision was mainly based on what I had seen in China. I had already traveled to China five times this year, and the fast growth of China as a major IT destination was very clear to me. China is now the production factory of the world, but China's software industry has emerged to become a global player in just 5 years. Several of the largest Indian IT service providers, including TCS, Infosys, Wipro and Satyam, have established their offices in China, taking advantage of the growing popularity of this country. However, I also noticed that some Chinese companies themselves are outsourcing IT work to neighboring North Korea. And since my profession is being an offshore consultant, I have no choice but to investigate these new trends in country selection, so I accepted the invitation to visit Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea.
I happened to be the first Dutch consultant to research the North Korean IT-sector ever, and the one-week tour turned out to be extremely interesting. Quite surprisingly, the country offers interesting business opportunities for European companies.
Portable Nutrient Filter Paper for Testing Colibacillus Made
Pyongyang, October 3 (KCNA) -- The National Hygienic and Anti-Epidemic Center of the DPRK has made an efficacious nutrient filter paper for testing colibacillus. One can instantly and correctly test water quality and soft drink in any place without any complex laboratory testing processes.
Doctors of the center conceived an idea of developing filter paper to test colibacillus on the spot. Their efforts resulted in developing the nutrient filter paper by treating filter paper by a special method.
The newly made filter paper is very simple to use and can be used for various uses.
A nutrient filter paper of two square centimeters and a sterilized test tube are enough to test once any time and in any place.
The nutrient filter paper was highly appreciated at the 9th presentation of science and technology of public health.
Third Public Presentation and Exhibition of Nano Science and Technology Held
Pyongyang, September 28 (KCNA) -- The Third Public Presentation and Exhibition of Nano Science and Technology was held at Kim Chaek University of Technology on Sept. 26 and 27. Present at the public presentation and exhibition sponsored by the Central Committee of the Korean General Federation of Science and Technology were scientists, technicians, teachers and researchers of scientific and educational organs.
The public presentation involved panel discussions on nano materials and property of matter, electronics and machines and nano biology, medicine and agriculture.
Architectural Aesthetic Symposium Held
Pyongyang, September 22 (KCNA) -- A symposium on architectural aesthetics of Pyongyang Kim Won Gyun Conservatory was held at the Concert Hall of the conservatory on Sept. 21. Presented to the symposium were five papers proving the architectural aesthetic characteristic of the conservatory which has been built as a monument of the times under the loving care for posterity and wise leadership of Kim Jong Il. The speakers explained in detail that the unique theme of depiction defining the seed, content and form in building the conservatory was made clear by his energetic guidance, so that Juche character, modernity, plastic character and artistic quality could be combined in all components of architectural formation.
National Symposium of Pharmacists Held
Pyongyang, September 21 (KCNA) -- A national symposium of pharmacists was held here from Sept. 18 to 20 on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the start of the institution of "Pharmacopoeia of the DPRK". Lectures on the "Pharmacopoeia of the DPRK" were given at the symposium.
They referred to the establishment of certification and quality guarantee system of medical supplies and great achievements made in the field of pharmacology and called on the scientists and technicians in this field to conduct dynamic scientific researches into putting Koryo medicine on an extractive basis.
Scientists Help Promote Modernization of National Economy
Pyongyang, September 18 (KCNA) -- The February 17 Shock Brigade of Scientists and Technicians, formed with scientists, teachers and researchers in Juche 67 (1978), takes a big share in promoting the modernization of the national economy in the DPRK. They, dispatched to hundreds of units of the socialist economic construction of the country, have applied thousands of research achievements and technical innovations to practice in collaboration with producer masses, thus making a healthy profit for the state.
National Scientific Symposium Marks Diamond Jubilee of Kim Il Sung University
Pyongyang, September 15 (KCNA) -- A national scientific symposium of the scientific and educational field took place at Kim Il Sung University between September 12 and 14 to mark the 60th anniversary of the university. Present there were Kim Yong Jin, minister of Education, Thae Hyong Chol, president of the Academy of Social Sciences, officials concerned and teachers and researchers of scientific and educational institutes from across the country.
The symposium heard the papers titled "It is essential for building a great prosperous powerful nation in the Songun era to further strengthen and develop Kim Il Sung University as a strong centre for science study and education", "Respected Comrade Kim Jong Il is great leader of the scientific, technological and educational development in the 21st century" and so on.
Many Scientific and Technological Books Off Press
Pyongyang, September 12 (KCNA) -- The Central Scientific and Technological Information Agency published a lot of scientific and technological books of 250 kinds and electronic publications this year. Among them are books "The trend of the development of education in different countries" (4 volumes), "The outbreak and prevention of bird flu", "Chlorine dioxide and its use", "Multilingual materials for study of IT " conducive to developing science and technology of the country.
Particularly, information scientific and technological magazines "Information science and technology", "Nano science and technology" and "Computer and program technology" are substantially helpful to the technical improvement and production of different sectors of the national economy.
9th National Exhibition of Inventions and New Technology under Way
Pyongyang, September 12 (KCNA) -- The 9th National Exhibition of Inventions and New Technology which opened at the Three-Revolution Exhibition in the DPRK on September 6 is going on till the 15th. More than 1,500 pieces of inventions and new technologies achieved by scientists and technicians of over 50 units of ministries, national institutions and industrial establishments are exhibited there. Some of the exhibits are actual things and others are on display in the form of diagram and software.
9th National Exhibition of Inventions and New Technology Opens
Pyongyang, September 7 (KCNA) -- The 9th national exhibition of inventions and new technology opened at the Three-Revolution Exhibition on September 6. Exhibited there are over 1,500 pieces of successful materials of invention and new technology in forms of actual object, model, treatise, diagram and CD. The materials were highly appreciated at the invention and ingenuity prize contests held by ministries, national institutions and social organizations and in every province.
NK Baduk Software to Hit Seoul
By Kim Tae-gyu
Staff Reporter
Starting today, a South Korean venture start-up will market a North Korean paduk computer game, Silver Star 2006, here that is arguably the most advanced program for paduk, also known as go.
ForOneBiz yesterday announced the scheme to launch Silver Star 2006 that has won the FOST Cup, the annual computer paduk championship participated in by global contenders, for the past three consecutive years.
Wind Power Resources Survey under Way
Pyongyang, August 11 (KCNA) -- The survey of wind power resources is going great guns in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. The wind power survey team of the Geographical Institute under the State Academy of Sciences has recently established a method of measuring wind speed to suit the topographical conditions of the country and regional features and a scientific methodology of estimating wind intensity in a new way. On the basis of this, the team has found out hundreds of windy zones in the country.
Environmental Information Media Center
Pyongyang, August 8 (KCNA) -- The Environmental Information Media Center (EIMC) under the Pyongyang International Information of New Technology and Economy Center (PIINTEC) has been doing much for the protection of environment. The EIMC, founded in November Juche92 (2003) with the support of the DPRK government and international organizations including the Environment Education Media Project (EEMP), is the hub of the country for exchanging environmental information with other countries.
In 1981 these men changed how we live
The IBM PC was born 25 years ago this week, but not all of its inventors were as lucky as Bill Gates
David Smith, technology correspondent
Sunday August 6, 2006
The Observer
'IBM Corporation today announced its smallest, lowest-priced computer system - the IBM Personal Computer,' ran the press release 25 years ago this week. 'Designed for business, school and home, the easy-to-use system sells for as little as $1,565. It offers many advanced features and, with optional software, may use hundreds of popular application programs.'
On 12 August 1981 no one could guess quite how profound an impact the announcement from International Business Machines would have on hundreds of millions of lives. Nor how wildly divergent would be the fortunes of three men who were there at the genesis of the IBM PC 5150 - a invention to rank in importance with the motor car, telephone and television.
IBM also needed operating system software. The man in the right place at the right time was a young geek who had dropped out of Harvard. Bill Gates of Microsoft specialised in more modest computer languages but assured the IBM team that he could come up with an operating system for their new machines in just a few days. After Estridge's task force had left for their hotel, Gates went around the corner to a tiny company which had written a system for the Intel processor and bought it out for £26,000. He then customised the system for IBM and sold it to them for £42,000. Critically, Gates retained the right to license the system to other manufacturers who could, and would, clone the IBM design. A quarter of a century later, he has an estimated wealth of £26bn.
IBM's failure to secure exclusive rights to Gates's software is often regarded as a blunder comparable to that of the music executives who spurned The Beatles
IBM was overtaken in the PC market by Compaq in 1994. IBM sold its PC division to Chinese giant Lenovo for £628m last year.
[China competition] [China globalisation]
Juche-based Iron-making Method Improved
Pyongyang, July 17 (KCNA) -- A new Juche-oriented method of producing iron has been established at the Posan Iron Plant in the DPRK. By the new method, which differs from the existing one, the production processes are shortened and iron ore lumps are directly used in production with the help of a new charging device. And such melting technical indices as the amount of fuel consumption, length of flame, inside temperature of furnace, reducing rate of raw materials have been bettered.
KT to Sign Deal With NK Firm
By Kim Tae-gyu
Staff Reporter
South Korea's leading fixed-line telecom carrier, KT, Thursday plans to sign a 360 million won ($380,000) outsourcing contract in Pyongyang with a North Korean institute to develop six sophisticated software programs.
A Ministry of Unification official said Wednesday two KT executives went via Shenyang, China, to the North Korean capital to sign the deal with the North's Samcholli General Corp.
Remote Education Encouraged
Pyongyang, July 11 (KCNA) -- The remote education by computer helps people acquire modern science and technology in the DPRK. The television education, a remote education, has been introduced since the 1970s to boost the all-people education onto a higher stage.
The remote education by computer is being given free of charge under the unified guidance of the government to suit the era of the IT industry.
KT to Sign Deal With NK Firm
By Kim Tae-gyu
Staff Reporter
South Korea's leading fixed-line telecom carrier, KT, Thursday plans to sign a 360 million won ($380,000) outsourcing contract in Pyongyang with a North Korean institute to develop six sophisticated software programs.
A Ministry of Unification official said Wednesday two KT executives went via Shenyang, China, to the North Korean capital to sign the deal with the North's Samcholli General Corp.
However, when contacted, KT refused to confirm the contract.
Nonetheless, the ministry official, who declined to be named, said: ``Samcholli will develop six computer programs in such fields as next-generation networks and voice recognition for 360 million won by the end of this December.
Potential Chemists Shun Chemistry Majors
By Kim Tae-gyu
Staff Reporter
A majority of South Korean medalists at the annual International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO) were found to have taken majors other than chemistry at universities.
Experts say it bodes ill for the country's future because many great would-be chemists are abandoning the basic but significant subject for some reason.
New Cosmetic Agent Developed
Pyongyang, July 7 (KCNA) -- A new kind of cosmetic agent to make skin supple with radiance and purity has been developed by researchers of the Aromatic and Cosmetic Engineering Institute of the Branch Academy of Light Industrial Science under the State Academy of Sciences in the DPRK. They analyzed in a scientific way why the hand skin of those who are making bean paste is smooth and fair. In this course, they found out that a kind of substance making organic acid promotes the metabolism of melanin pigment in the skin to give complexion a healthy appearance and radiance and prevent wrinkling.
On the basis of this, they succeeded in making a new kind of cosmetic agent in a microbiological way.
The face lotion and cream mixed with a small amount of the agent are very efficacious for lightening dark spots, freckles and skin moles in the face and making complexion fair and fresh.
New Kind of Pesticide Developed
Pyongyang, July 3 (KCNA) -- Great efforts are being directed to preventing possible damage by the harmful insects while weeding in cooperative farms throughout the country. Popular among the co-op farms is the pesticide called "clod of agricultural chemicals".
Cooperative farms in Pyongyang, South Phyongan and North Hwanghae Provinces are applying the pesticide to protecting various farm crops including rice from harmful insects.
Health Homepage "Jangsaeng" Draws Social Attention
Pyongyang, June 23 (KCNA) -- The health homepage "Jangsaeng" run by the hospital attached to Pyongyang University of Medicine in the DPRK is arousing greater public interest. Since it was opened in August 2005 more than 2,460 new data have been supplemented and renewed and the electronic notice board and consultation room have become increasingly popular.
One can read thousands of data in the homepage, which consists of seven parts including "Diseases each family should be aware of", "Possible symptoms in life and measures", "Special therapy at the hospital of Pyongyang University of Medicine", "Health and longevity, natural therapy", "Common household medicines" and "Information of new technologies".
People in Ryanggang, North and South Hamgyong and other provinces are widely using the consultation room to acquire medical and common knowledge. Through the consultation room, they raise inquiries about preventive and treatment methods for lung cancer and other diseases and about health improvement and have them solved.
Choe Nam Yong, chief of the Public Health Administration Research Room of the hospital, told KCNA that the homepage "Jangsaeng" greatly helps people have a plenty of common hygienic knowledge and administrate their health by themselves in a scientific and technical way.
DPRK-Russia Joint Exhibition on Information Technology Opens
Pyongyang, June 26 (KCNA) -- A DPRK-Russia joint exhibition on information technology opened at the People's Palace of Culture here on Sunday. Present at the opening ceremony were Han U Chol, director general of the General Bureau of Software Industry of the DPRK, Hong Son Ok, vice-chairwoman of the Committee for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries who is chairwoman of the DPRK-Russia Friendship Association, officials concerned and working people in the city of Pyongyang.
International Book Fair Opens in Pyongyang
SEOUL (Yonhap) _ In a bid to boost development of science and technology, North Korea held an international science technology book fair in Pyongyang.
According to the (North) Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the 5th Pyongyang International Science and Technology Book Fair opened on June 4 attended by of 32 organizations from 14 countries.
Pyongyang International Science and Technology Book Fair Closes
Pyongyang, June 6 (KCNA) -- The 5th Pyongyang International Science and Technology Book Fair which opened here on June 4, closed on June 6. Delegations and delegates from different countries, regions and international organizations exchanged their achievements and experience gained in the fields of science and technology and press and discussed the issue of boosting the exchange and cooperation in the publication of scientific and technological books and information service among countries while the fair was underway.
Internet Homepage "Songun Korea" Opened
Pyongyang, June 5 (KCNA) -- The North American Committee against Zionism and Imperialism has opened Internet homepage "Songun Korea". Edited in the homepage are Mt. Paektu, a holy mountain of revolution, above the basic screen, a Korean map and the Tower of the Juche Idea in the right and left sides of the centre and title "Songun Korea" and the date of foundation below.
The inaugural number of the homepage carries photos of leader Kim Jong Il giving on-the-spot guidance to the different domains of the national economy and articles titled "Comrade Kim Jong Il guides the era with Songun", "The DPRK displays its dignity with Songun", etc.
[Bizarre]
Pyongyang International Science and Technology Book Fair Opens
Pyongyang, June 4 (KCNA) -- The 5th Pyongyang International Science and Technology Book Fair was opened on Sunday with the attendance of 32 organizations from 14 countries, regions and international organizations. Displayed in the fair venue were valuable scientific and technological books and data of different fields.
Pyongyang International Scientific and Technological Book Exhibition to Be Held
Pyongyang, May 26 (KCNA) -- The 5th Pyongyang international scientific and technological book exhibition will be held at the Three-Revolution Exhibition from June 4 to 6. It will bring together at least 30 organizations from ten odd countries and international organizations. Displayed there will be noteworthy books and information on the latest science and technology in different fields including IT, nano technology, electronic engineering and biological engineering. In this period the participants will have opportunities of listening to lectures introducing latest scientific and technological achievements and swapping experience.
North Korea Slowly Going Digital
By BURT HERMAN
The Associated Press
Thursday, May 25, 2006; 1:47 PM
SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea is embracing the digital age, encouraging its citizens to go online and even boasting about the popularity of that obligatory electronic accessory in the 21st century: MP3 players.
In video footage taken by AP Television News in the North Korean capital Pyongyang, students were seen clicking away on computers while viewing sleek flat-screen displays at a new electronic library at Kim Chaek University of Technology. The library, which opened last month, has 10 million titles on its local intranet, the university spokeswoman said.
"Our e-library built under the deep love and concern of the great general Kim Jong Il is superior compared with other libraries because the students can search and access any kind of books that they want to read in a quicker way," spokeswoman Won Yun Ae told APTN.
Students were seen using Internet Explorer to browse a Web page titled "electronic book search." In another computer room, portraits of late North Korean leader Kim Il Sung and his son and successor Kim Jong Il peered down at the students.
Report on Stepping Up the Development of Science and Technology
By SPA Chairman Choe Thae Bok
The WPK unfolded a grandiose plan for building a great prosperous powerful nation and set it as one of the three mainstays for its implementation to attach importance to science and technology as well as ideology and military affairs, adopting it as its strategic line as required by the times and the developing revolution.
As a result of the successful application of this line, the science and technology of the DPRK have made steady progress without stalemate or stagnation even under the unprecedentedly difficult conditions.
New Maize Planting Method Introduced
Pyongyang, May 16 (KCNA) -- New farming methods have been created and applied in the countryside of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Among them is the maize close planting method.
The method is to plant in two rows on a furrow middle-ripening tall maize with many leaves the number of which is tantamount with that of the plants on two furrows and to cultivate dwarf crops on the next furrow.
By the method, the leaves of the maize crops grow straightly upwards and grow well with the help of vacant space of the next furrow. And each maize plant of a field is ensured same conditions with that on the edge of the field. As the result, the per-hectare yield of maize is remarkably higher than that of one row cultivation.
Also vacant furrows are available for raising various species of dwarf crops and cultivating autumn vegetables and others as aftercrops. The new method, therefore, can raise the land utility rate by 50 percent.
A dream come true of radio in Utopia
Tuesday May 16, 1922
The Guardian
Readers of Edward Bellamy's Looking Backwards may remember how the citizen of Utopia, waking from sleep each morning, had only to touch a button near his bedside and at once his chamber was flooded with strains of exhilarating music.
According to Bellamy they managed these things rather well in Utopia. The orchestra, which thus distributed its music among thousands of homes, would choose for its morning programme music that was likely to invigorate the mind of the community.
In the evening the touch of a button, this time in the drawing-room, would bring forth music of another kind, or perhaps a homily by some learned divine.
Of course all things are possible in a dream of Utopia, yet a dream may not be all baseless fabric.
If the enterprise which the Metropolitan Vickers Company have in contemplation for Manchester be realised we shall have attained a considerable step towards this refinement of life.
Before many months have passed a "broadcasting station" may be completed near their works at Trafford Park, and all who possess themselves of the proper receiving appartus will be able to share in the service of news, music, lectures, sermons, and so on despatched from this centre.
This is a technical alliance between the Westinghouse Company, which opened the first broadcasting station of this kind at Pittsburg, and the Metropolitan Vickers Companies.
In the early evening the station may be sending out stories for children, tales to send the young folk off to bed in a happy frame of mind. Later there may be a lecture. Music there will almost certainly be on most nights.
Here one can picture an immense development. It is not extravagant to imagine a concert party or orchestra being engaged to give regular performances. Some great vocalist or instrumentalist visiting Manchester may make a flying visit to broadcast his divine art. The gramophone has helped us revise our notions of propriety in such a matter.
On Sunday, perhaps, there will be a sermon. One fears that the politician cannot be altogether excluded. Where is the politician who would neglect the means to a wider publicity?
So it is not unlikely that Ministers of State, arriving hot-foot from London, may occasionally supplement the regulation performance from the platform of the Free Trade Hall with a visit to the "broadcasting station" at Trafford Park.
These are some of the ideas in the minds of the promoters of the scheme.
Homework Help, From a World Away
Web Joins Students, Cheap Overseas Tutors
By Amit R. Paley
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, May 15, 2006; Page A01
It was almost 3 a.m., Alex Del Monte recalled, and he was cramming like crazy. He gulped can after can of Red Bull to stay awake, but the George Washington University sophomore knew he would flunk his Statistics 52 exam later that day if he didn't call his tutor for help.
But so late at night? Not a problem if your tutor works 8,500 miles away and 9 1/2 hours ahead in Bangalore, India.
Bikram Roy, chief executive and founder of Studyloft.com, said the company gives its online tutors examples of the differences in how Indians and Americans speak the King's English.
In an hour-long session that cost just $18, the Indian tutor, who said his name was Mike, spent an hour walking Del Monte through such esoteric concepts as confidence intervals and alpha divisions, Del Monte recalled. He got an A on the final exam. "Mike helped me unscramble everything in my mind," the 20-year-old said.
National Symposium of Linguistics Held
Pyongyang, May 11 (KCNA) -- A national symposium of linguistics was held on May 10 at the Academy of Social Sciences to observe the 40th anniversary of the publication of the famous work of President Kim Il Sung "On Correctly Preserving the National Characteristics of the Korean Language." Speeches were made at the symposium under the titles "The famous work of the great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung 'On Correctly Preserving the National Characteristics of the Korean Language' serves as important guidelines indicating the way for the development of the national language in our times," "It is the way of preserving the national characteristics of the Korean language to actively find out and use words peculiar to the Korean language," "It is a main task for preserving the Juche character and national character in the linguistic life to thoroughly polish up Chinese ideographic words and borrowed words," "It is a main task before the field of linguistics in the Songun era to preserve and develop the advantages and the serve-the-people spirit of the cultured language of Pyongyang" and others.
Weather Information Dissemination Room Opens
Pyongyang, May 11 (KCNA) -- The Central Meteorological Institute under the Hydro-Meteorological Service of the DPRK started to operate a room for disseminating weather information through computers. It furnishes information on temperature and precipitation on the day, weekly maritime weather forecast and sand dust phenomenon. And it offers short-, middle- and long-term weather forecasts, and the average three-decade temperature, rainfall and sunshine ratio
Efficient High-tech Goods Introduced into Economic Sector
. Pyongyang, May 9 (KCNA) -- Efficient high-tech goods have been applied to various sectors of the national economy in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Among them are mechanical rotary packing ring apparatus, hydraulic bio-micromanipulator and pneumatic ore pulp delivery machine.
Architectural Festival Held
. Pyongyang, May 9 (KCNA) -- The sixth May 21 architectural festival was held here from May 4 to 9. It drew architects, construction technicians and teachers and researchers in the field of architecture and construction from across the country. It was divided into prize contests among designers of rural villages, modern urban and rural dwelling houses, street and garden lamps, and furniture, an architectural and construction symposium and a competition for the modernization of architectural and construction designing. .
The festival received at least 320 designing entries, more than 150 scientific papers and over 40 programs for construction designing. .
It was noteworthy in the designs for urban and rural dwelling houses and rural villages that they were laid out in a unique manner and new type roofs chosen for them and they were done in such a way as to protect ecological environment and make a rational use of renewable energy
Conservatives Wrest Internet from Progressives
Conservatives are staking their claim to a place long thought of as the domain of progressives: Korea's uniquely vociferous cyberspace. A study by online research firm Pollever on 1,500 Netizens on April 10-14 shows that users with conservative inclinations have became more active in expressing their political or social views online.
Solar Heat Widely Used in DPRK
Pyongyang, May 2 (KCNA) -- A great effort has been channeled into the work of effectively using solar heat in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Many solar factories, greenhouses and fish farms have been built in recent years. In Haeju City, South Hwanghae Province, more than 90 solar Hukbosan fertilizer factories have newly been constructed. They save 50 percent of fuel compared with the existing Hukbosan fertilizer factories.
Thousands of solar greenhouse buildings have mushroomed in different parts of the country in a few years. Industrial establishments and rural communities are constructing solar vegetable greenhouses of various sizes and shapes to suit their actual conditions.
The Koksan County Food Administration in North Hwanghae Province produces ten kinds of vegetables with only solar heat in a greenhouse covering some 410 square meters.
A laboratory of an educational institution has built a solar fish farm, where it is engaged in researches into breeding freshwater fishes and is raising fry. The walls of the fish farm are under the ground except the light-accepting plane, so its heat loss is low and indoor temperature ensured well.
The farm is also breeding ornamental fishes including goldfish, Lebistes reticulatus.
New Remedy for Vitiligo Developed
Pyongyang, May 2 (KCNA) -- The Hospital attached to Pyongyang University of Medicine in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea has developed a new remedy for vitiligo. The new remedy is to take a stratum of basal cells from normal skin and transplant to the focus by the method of traditional Koryo medicine. The advantage is that the remedy leaves no scar and requires short time while treating a wide region at a time. The clinical trials show that it cures vitiligo in about 30 days with 98 percent of cure rate.
The remedy can be applied anywhere as its apparatus is simple to operate and it does not need drug treatment.
Lift of Step for Disconnecting Internet Sites Demanded
Pyongyang, May 1 (KCNA) -- The Internet Journalists Association of south Korea and Internet homepage Minjok Thongsin in the United reportedly held a joint press conference in Seoul on April 26 at which they strongly demanded the south Korean "government" lift the step for disconnecting the Internet sites and stop the unreasonable suppression of the press. Speakers at the press conference accused the south Korean "government" of instructing the "Ministry of Information and Telecommunications" in November 2004 to totally cut off the connections of 31 Internet sites opened by overseas Koreans on the groundless charges of being "pro-north sites" and having taken no measures in this regard since then.
A written demand for the lift of the measure for cutting off the connections with Internet press of overseas Koreans was read out at the press conference. The action taken by the south Korean authorities to cut off the connections of Internet sites with the overseas national press is hardly understandable, the message charged, urging the authorities to lift such step as soon as possible.
[Double Standards]
Round-plate Wind Power Generator Made
Pyongyang, April 24 (KCNA) -- The Electricity Institute under the State Academy of Sciences of the DPRK has recently developed a new kind of low speed round-plate wind power generator. The generator has a larger output of electricity and less mechanical electric loss than the existing ones without using exciting coil, electric brush and speedup apparatus. It consists of three round plates (two magnetic round plates and one coil round plate), six wind-impellers and a wing for keeping direction.
It, low in production cost, can be operated from the wind-speed of 1.5 meters per second. It produces 300 watts of electricity in wind-speed of 5 meters per second. Such generators have already been introduced into lots of families in western coastal areas including Uiju and Kangryong Counties, showing a great profitability.
New Fuel-Saving Additive Developed
Pyongyang, April 3 (KCNA) -- The Onchon County Farm Machine Station in South Phyongan Province of the DPRK has developed a new kind of fuel-saving additive. When the additive is mixed with gasoline or diesel, it increases combustion efficiency of rolling stocks and engines, thus economizing 30-35 percent of fuel and extending serviceable life of engines by more than 30 percent as against before using the additive. 200 grams are enough for one ton of fuel.
Does Culture Matter?
Attuning yourself to the culture and habits of your offshoring partner and its team, could be the beginning of a long-standing relationship.
by Paul Tija
Global Services
January 23, 2006
The Dutch have been offshoring for more than two decades now. Though as a country, the Netherlands is not particularly large, the deals that the Dutch companies have struck have usually been major. The recent ABN Amro bank contract with several Indian offshore vendors was one of the largest contract ever won by any Indian-IT company.
The Dutch have been egalitarian in choosing their suppliers. At least 35 nations have conducted IT work for Dutch organizations, including in its former colony of Surinam, and in some unlikely spots such as North Korea and Iran. Not surprisingly, India is the preferred source, and the volume of Indian software exports to Holland is more than $130 million. In 2005, it was estimated that approximately 5000 offshore staff were working for various Dutch projects. It was also estimated that this number could grow ten-fold in the coming decade to 50,000, which will represent a significant volume for such a small country.
Exhibition of Achievements in Wind Energy Science and Technology
Pyongyang, April 1 (KCNA) -- An exhibition of scientific and technical achievements made in developing and using wind energy was held at the Three-Revolution Exhibition in Pyongyang from March 28 to 31 under the sponsorship of the Central Committee of the Korean General Federation of Science and Technology. On display there were various shapes of wind-driven generators, models, diagrams and various kinds of wind-driven generator accessories.
Giant Progress in Modernization of Communications
Pyongyang, March 9 (KCNA) -- Leader Kim Jong Il visited the Pyongyang Earth Station on March 4, Juche 75 (1986). Over the last two decades, many successes have been made in the modernization of communications. The modernization of the station makes it possible to fully ensure reception and transmission of telegraph, telephone and telex with other countries. And facilities including switchboards and communication method based on high-technology have been introduced and their operation computerized so as to remarkably boost the speed and capacity of communications.
The establishment of TV relay system by satellites also makes it possible to telecast more events and facts that are taking place at home and abroad. The radio capacity has been improved and radio channels have been diversified. During the "Arduous March" and forced march, the difficult years for the country, the optical fiber cable has found its way to provinces, cities, counties and rural villages. Meanwhile, cars and other transport means were provided to post service and latest scientific and technological successes fully introduced to strengthen the material and technical foundation in the field.
The modernization of communications is promoted this year, too, as required by the Songun and IT era.
NK's Software Hits Seoul
By Kim Tae-gyu
Staff Reporter
An application software developed at North Korea Friday made a commercial debut in the South for the first time ever through a venture start-up here.
BH Partners Friday began selling the Speed-K4.0, a computer program made by North Korea's state-backed scientific agency, via its online site (www.bhpartners.co.kr).
People can download the input software, which helps them easily type in sentences from a word processor or e-mail, at 5,500 won ($5.7). The price can be paid via cell phone.
The versatile software has the ability to automatically correct typos or to convert English-language contents to Korean-language ones and record sentences that can be recalled by user-specified prompts.
``We are marketing this software not to help North Korea but to make money. This is a business,'' BH Partners chief executive Kwak Byung-hyun said.
``Thanks to its rich features and low price tag, the Speed-K4.0 has a potential to make a hit here. We will keep importing Northern software that has a competitive edge,'' he added.
Summary Status Report
by the KUT/SU Research Collaboration
March 14th, 2006
This summary report by Syracuse University discusses its development
of "bilateral research collaborations with Kim Chaek University of
Technology (KUT), Pyongyang." "Outcomes thus far include twin lab
designs, software specifications, joint work on proving computer
program correctness, presentations in English of research results by
KUT and SU participants, and an academic paper written jointly by
representatives of KUT, SU, the DPRK Mission, and TKS."
Korea pushes for self reliant space program
Nation plans to launch a satellite with its own rocket next year
A nation can truly be said to have entered the "space age" when it has three related homegrown technologies that constitute a space program - satellites, rockets to lift the satellites into orbit and a space center with launch facilities.
Korea has made substantial progress to usher in the space age during recent years.
Besides the nine active and decommissioned satellites, the country plans to complete a space center, launch two more satellites and develop the country's first satellite launch vehicle by next year.
A multipurpose satellite "Arirang 2" will be launched at Plesetsk, Russia, in July. Dubbed "Science and Technology Satellite 2," the satellite is likely to be launched next year at a space center to be completed by 2007.
An artists rendering of a multipurpose satellite called Arirang 2. The satellite will be launched at Plesetsk, Russia, in July.[Korea Aerospace Research Institute]
The space center, being built on a remote island near Goheung, South Jeolla Province, will be the nation's hub of space science and technology research.
The state funded Korea Aerospace Research Institute plans to develop the country's first satellite launch vehicle, in a joint project with Russian scientists. Named KSLV 1, short for Korea Space Launch Vehicle, it will be designed to put a 100 kilogram payload into low orbit.
The KSLV 1 will launch "Science and Technology Satellite 2" next year at the Goheung space center, if everything goes according to the plan.
Only eight countries have the capacity to manufacture rockets, or satellite launch vehicles, in the world.
The Science and Technology Ministry fist announced a national strategy for the aerospace sector in 1987, but failed to make significant progress until later in the 1990s, due to a lack of technical expertise, low investment in space science and technology and low awareness among companies.
Korea's aerospace research and development projects, in a real sense, began with the Mid and Long term National Space Development Plan, designed by the ministry, and the Master Plan for the Development of the Aerospace Industry by the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy in 1996.
Later, space technology was designed among the six national strategic technologies drawn up in the National Technology Road Map, which also includes biotechnology, information technology and nanotechnology.
The Science and Technology Ministry intends to foster the local aerospace industry with a focus on satellite technology and services. Government officials hope that the local market for satellite based technology and services will reach 5.4 trillion won by 2015, about one percent of the global market.
The state funded Korea Aerospace Research Institute spearheads the ministry's satellite program. Established in 1987, the KARI oversees the national development policy and research and development projects in the aerospace industry.
After five years of collaborated efforts with U.S. based defense contractor TRW Inc., KARI developed Korea's first multipurpose satellite, Arirang 1, which was launched in December 1999.
Arirang 1, a 470 kilogram small earth observation satellite with an orbital altitude of 685 kilometers, is equipped with an electro optical camera, an ocean scanning multispectral imager and a space physics sensor. The satellite has been sending earth data to Korea and neighboring countries since 2000.
In another move, the ministry expects to launch an unmanned multipurpose satellite, named Arirang 2, in July this year. It plans to experiment with the latest technologies in earth observation and satellite imaging.
Arirang 2 is designed as a 765 kilogram earth observation satellite with an orbital altitude of 685 kilometers. The main mission of Arirang 2 is to provide geographical information system based data of the Korean Peninsula during its three year lifespan, covering information such as hydrology, road networks, urban mapping and demographic data.
Also, the multipurpose satellite will send information on changing natural environments to provide preventive measures against natural disasters. It will scan disaster stricken areas, survey the country's agriculture, fishery and forestry resources, according to KARI.
KARI spearheads the project, along with other research institutes such as the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute and Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. Companies participating in the Arirang 2 consortium are Korean Air, Hanwha Group, Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd., Korean Air, Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction Co. and Doosan Infracore Co.
KARI is developing a multi spectral camera with Israel's ELOP Electronics Industries Ltd., which will be installed on Arirang 2. The MSC is designed to offer high resolution imaging for the mapping of the Korean Peninsula, KARI said.
"By seeing pictures sent from Arirang 2, people can recognize shapes of any given cars on streets," said Hwang Do soon, head of KARI's Overall Coordination Department.
"A total of 263.3 billion won and around 300 scientists were invested to see the launch of Arirang 2. Eighty percent of Arirang 2's manufacturing process was achieved by Korean scientists," Hwang said.
Arirang 3 will be launched in 2009 and Arirang 5 will be sent into orbit in 2008. Progress for Arirang 4, however, has stalled according to the science ministry.
The institute is also developing an ocean and meteorological satellite. It has plans to launch it in 2008. The main objective of the satellite is to provide weather monitoring and data for disaster management and prevention. The satellite will also be used to obtain information on marine resources and ecosystems.
Other than these public purpose satellites, there are broadcasting and communications satellites developed by the private sector. For instance, the country's largest telecom carrier SK Telecom Co., in cooperation with Japan based Mobile Broadcasting Corp., launched "Hanbyul" in 2004 at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, which now enables people to enjoy seamless multimedia services on handheld devices.
By 2015, Korea hopes to put 20 satellites into orbit, including eight multipurpose satellites, seven science satellites and five geostationary orbit satellites, said a government official of the science ministry's space technology development division.
In another move, the Korean government is pushing a plan to put its first citizen into space by 2008, and said it will select astronaut candidates this year.
The candidates should be 164 190 centimeters tall and weigh between 45 90 kilograms. They must also have eyesight of over 0.1 and corrected eyesight of 1.0. Blood pressure is required to remain between 90 and 140 in contraction, and between 60 and 90 in relaxation. The candidates will be required to be fluent in English and Russian.
The two candidates will go through space training at Russia's Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center, but only one of them will be finally chosen to be the first Korean astronaut to ride on the Russian manned spacecraft Soyuz, the government said.
"We will make a public announcement in the first half of this year, go through selection processes to sort out two astronaut candidates later this year," a Science Ministry official said earlier this year.
The future astronaut will move to the International Space Station via the Soyuz to conduct various tasks involving science experiments, while residing in the Russian module of the ISS for ten days, according to the science ministry.
The Korean government has allocated a total of 6 billion won for the project and plans to channel more from the private sector.
(siyoungh@heraldm.com)
By Hwang Si young
2006.03.13
[Rocketry] [Military balance] [Russia] [Self-reliance]
Successes Made in Agricultural Science
Pyongyang, February 28 (KCNA) -- Scientists in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea have recently made fresh successes in scientific research for increasing agricultural production. The Agricultural Chemical Institute under the Academy of Agricultural Science has developed bacterial phosphate fertilizer which is of great significance in agricultural production and established its production process.
Korea to Fight Web Attacks From China
By Kim Tae-gyu
Staff Reporter
To counter the problem of identity theft, the Korean government will block the backdoor Internet pathway from abroad, which were used to steal personal data by getting bypass links to the country's Internet network.
The Ministry of Information and Communication Tuesday revealed steps aimed at controlling the nation's rampant personal data leakage to overseas countries, especially China.
Porn Boosts Online Technologies
By Kim Tae-gyu
Staff Reporter
What is the most powerful force pushing new technologies to take root in South Korea, the world's high-tech testing ground? The shocking answer could be pornography.
The seemingly unorthodox viewpoint has been confirmed here in a host of cases _ the success of such emerging techniques as video rentals, CD-ROMs, chatting and online shopping.
The Internet is a clear-cut example of a technology pushed by porn in Korea, where about 12 million out of the total 15.5 million households are hooked up to the high-speed Internet.
It is widely accepted that video footage of Oh Hyun-kyung having sex with her manager prodded people to sign up for the broadband connection en masse in the late 1990s.
Air Plasma Heat Treatment Device Introduced
Pyongyang, January 28 (KCNA) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea has widely introduced an air plasma heat treatment device into production. The device generates plasma with an alternating current of industrial frequency and injects it to rapidly heat or cool the surface of a product to be processed.
It uses only air instead of such an expensive inert gas as Ar. And it makes it possible to widen the scope of heat treatment more than 30 mm each time by utilizing electric property of plasma. It is not restricted by sizes of products and its heat treatment speed is quick
E-Library and Gymnasium of Kim Chaek University of Technology Inaugurated
Pyongyang, January 25 (KCNA) -- An inaugural ceremony of e-library and gymnasium of Kim Chaek University of Technology took place on January 24. The e-library with a total floor space of over 16,000 square metres is capable of accommodating more than 2,000 persons. All services ranging from the search of book catalogs to book and information reading and lecture are computerized. The more than 4,000-seater gymnasium is capable of hosting various sporting events and trainings, art performances and meetings.
New Insecticide Developed
Pyongyang, January 18 (KCNA) -- The Hamhung Branch of the State Academy of Sciences of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea has developed a new kind of highly efficient insecticide. When it is mixed with the substance for forming membrane on water surface, the insecticide proves more effective.
The substance mixed with the insecticide forms thin and stable membrane on the water surface of paddy fields to kill the insects climbing up and down rice stalks. It has been applied to various co-op farms in South Hamgyong and South Phyongan Provinces last year. The trial application shows that its proportion of disinsection is 98 percent.
It is economically profitable. As the insecticide is put in water by drops at certain intervals, 500 g of the insecticide per hectare (50 g in the term of medicinal component) is enough. It makes it possible to save manpower and agricultural chemicals compared with the method of spraying chemicals.
Stepped-up Technological Updating of National Economy Called for
Pyongyang, January 9 (KCNA) -- Rodong Sinmun Monday in a signed article deals with the validity and vitality of the Workers' Party of Korea's policy of carrying out the technological updating of the national economy. The joint New Year editorial stressed the need to tackle the technological updating in all fields and units of the national economy as an important economic strategy, the article says, and goes on:
The WPK in a scientific policy of carrying out the technological updating of the national economy as required by the developing reality and the new century calls for rapidly developing the economy. The core of the above-said policy of the WPK is to put the national economy on a modern and IT basis by introducing the latest science and technology.
We still suffer from the shortage of fund and raw and other materials. And it is all the more difficult to build a great prosperous powerful nation given the U.S. imperialists' vicious moves to isolate and stifle the DPRK. Only when we count on the strength of science and technology and conduct technological updating can we increase production with less raw and other materials and improve the standard of the people's living.
Substance for Promoting Plant Growth and Immunity Developed
Pyongyang, January 3 (KCNA) -- The Branch Academy of Biology under the State Academy of Sciences of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea has developed "Phungok", a substance for promoting plant growth and immunity. It has been introduced to Kaechon City and Sukchon County, South Phyongan Province, Samjiyon County, Ryanggang Province, Unpha County, North Hwanghae Province and various other parts of the country to reap a rich crop.
It is called "vaccine" applicable to the crops including rice, maize, wheat and barley and flower plants. It promotes the growth of plants, shortens their growth period and protects them against blights and thus raises the yield remarkably.
Scientific Foundation Laid for Maricultural Development
Pyongyang, January 4 (KCNA) -- Scientists at the Branch Academy of Fishery Science under the State Academy of Sciences of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea have scored successes in researches into protecting and increasing marine resources of the country, thus opening up a bright vista for the development of mariculture. They succeeded in finding out an artificial proliferation method of sea-animals, developing plant growth stimulant with kelp-soaked water and breeding new species of fish and others.
Kim Jong Il Gives Field Guidance to New E-Library and Gymnasium at Kim Chaek University of Technology
Pyongyang, January 4 (KCNA) -- Kim Jong Il, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and chairman of the National Defence Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, gave field guidance to the new e-library and gymnasium at Kim Chaek University of Technology. Going round the art work depicting President Kim Il Sung among teachers and students of the university, he said the university turned into the highest seat for training scientists and technicians of the country under his wise leadership and meticulous care.
The immortal revolutionary exploits performed by the President will always remain shining along with the university, he added. He first went round the e-library.
The library with a total floor space of more than 16,000 square meters is a modern library where all the services ranging from the retrieval of lists of books to reading books and other materials and lectures are computerized.
[ICT]
Internet, Mobile Phone Service in KT's NK Card
US Consent on Shipment of Sensitive Equipment to North Remains Big Variable
By Kim Tae-gyu
Staff Reporter
Seoul is now relentlessly pushing for more telecom services in the Kaesong Industrial Complex in North Korea after completing the long-overdue project of connecting the two Koreas with telephone lines.
Experts predict the services for the high-speed Internet and mobile telephone will be the next target and KT, which takes charge of the fixed-line telephone link-up to Kaesong, does not hide such an aim.
``We are hoping to launch the broadband Internet and wireless telephony services in Kaesong after getting the nod from the North,'' KT spokesman Hwang Dae-woon said.
KT, a former state monopoly that was fully privatized in 2002, has the ability to run both businesses because it is the nation's top high-speed Internet service carrier.
In addition, its mobile arm KTF is the country's runner-up player in the South's mobile market based on the code division multiple access (CDMA).
However, experts say two stumbling blocks remain in realizing the bold KT-spearheaded scheme _ the responses of both the North and the United States.
[Friction] [Sanctions]
Protocol Signed between DPRK and China
Beijing, December 23 (KCNA) -- A protocol of the 41st meeting of the inter-governmental committee for cooperation in science and technology between the DPRK and China was signed here today. Present at the signing ceremony from the DPRK side were members of the delegation of the Korean State Academy of Sciences and from the Chinese side officials concerned of the Ministry of Science and Technology of China.
Korea Ranks 5th in UN e-Government Standing
By Lee Hyo-sik
Staff Reporter
South Korea ranked fifth this year in the United Nations' evaluation for e-government readiness among 191 countries, thanks to its advanced information technology (IT) and nationwide broadband network.
New Thrombolytic Tablets Developed in DPRK
Pyongyang, December 6 (KCNA) -- Teachers and
researchers of Pyongyang University of Medicine
in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea
have succeeded in developing Ssokjangchonghyol
tablets efficacious for thrombosis at the end of
ten-year research. The tablet is a microorganism
medicine. They made it by extracting
microorganisms with strong thrombolytic function
from fermented soybeans, a traditional food of
the Korean people, and cultivating them.
Book "Common Knowledge on Etymologies"
(Vol.1) Off Press
Pyongyang, December 6 (KCNA) -- The Social
Sciences Publishing House of the Democratic
People's Republic of Korea has recently
published the book "Common Knowledge on
Etymologies" (Vol. 1). It gives etymologies of
most common vocabularies and their derivations
to help the people study special and common
knowledge on Korean language
New Adhesive Developed in DPRK
Pyongyang, December 2 (KCNA) -- Scientists of
the Democratic People's Republic of Korea have
developed a new adhesive (PO-C-2 -100). It is
applied to adhering tiles and various sizes of
granite and marble slabs tightly to concrete
walls and ensuring waterproof. It is available
to 20-30 mm thick stone slabs and thus saves
stainless steel, stones for slabs and a lot of
manpower.
Multimedia "Korean Dishes"
Pyongyang, November 10 (KCNA) -- The Central Scientific and Technological Information Agency has recently made an encyclopedic computer multimedia "Korean Dishes". The multimedia contains thousands of data on folk dishes created and developed by the Korean people.
It consists of eight parts -- cookery guide, materials for food, indigenous dishes, seasonal dishes, edible herbs, origin of dishes, common knowledge on food and fundamentals of cooking.
The part of cookery guide gives 1,202 dishes.
The part of seasonal dishes introduces 122 seasonal dishes according to their categories and the part of edible herbs photo-illustrated cooking methods, nutriments and compound structure of 98 kinds of edible herbs.
Given in other parts of the multimedia are cooking methods and features of raw materials of national dishes classified into dishes and categories, indigenous dishes of local areas, stories about origin of 159 kinds of dishes and common knowledge about 670 kinds of cuisine. The forms, movies, sound explanation and pictures of the multimedia enable the users to easily and fast find what they want. It is popular among national food experts and housewives and helps keep national character in dietary life.
North Korea nurturing nerds
Pyongyang
October 21, 2005 - 12:00AM
North Korean students learn how to use computers at an elite school in Pyongyang. Photo: AFP
Chun In-hyo was just eight years old when North Korea's peerless leader Kim Jong-il declared the 21st century the era of the information technology revolution.
Kim Jong Il Sends Thanks to Population Institute
Pyongyang, October 15 (KCNA) -- Leader Kim Jong
Il extended thanks to the Population Institute
greeting the 20th anniversary of its foundation.
Founded on July 11, Juche 74(1985), the
institute has been built up as the centre of
scientific research of the population, the
centre of dissemination of information of the
population and the centre of cooperation with
the UN Population Fund under the wise guidance
of the WPK and the leader and discharged its
mission and role over the last 20 years. [Opening]
National Exhibition of Scientific and
Technological Achievements by Youth Opens
Pyongyang, October 1 (KCNA) -- The national
exhibition of scientific and technological
achievements by youth was opened to mark the
60th anniversary of the Workers' Party of Korea.
Out of the achievements in the scientific
research work made by young scientists,
technicians and inventors across the country, at
least 1,300 data of invention and new technical
renovations appreciated at the provincial
exhibitions were put on display at the venue of
the exhibition.
Among them are "Wealth for all ages", a system
of aiding the study of the reminiscences of
President Kim Il Sung, the system of study,
preservation and management of the revolutionary
relics and other data of achievements which will
contribute to glorifying forever the brilliant
revolutionary history and exploits of the
peerlessly great persons.
And there are crop growing forecast program
"Phojongil 2.0", nematocide in the production of
seed potatoes, stimulant to eurytropic plant
growth, diagnosis of bird flu by gene analysis,
nano lubricant additives and other significant
achievements in the Juche-orientation,
modernization and scientification of the
national economy.
Developing Industrial Fine Art
Pyongyang, September 30 (KCNA) -- The national
industrial fine art show was held with success
at the Three-Revolution Exhibition on the
occasion of the 60th birthday of the Workers'
Party of Korea. On display were more than 1,200
pieces of design works and 650 items of
manufactured goods presented by industrial fine
art studios of ministries and national
institutions, provincial industrial art studios
and by industrial establishments across the
country.
More than 50 pieces of design works were highly
appreciated at the show for their reflection of
the demand of the times and the artistic quality
of virtual utility. Among them were "Mark design
for the Mansudae Art Theatre," "Design for
street decoration," "Design for Korean costume,"
"Design for porcelain patterns" and "Design for
printed cloth patterns" exhibited by the
Mansudae Art Studio, the Industrial Fine Art
Studio under the Ministry of Machine-Building
Industry, the Light Industry Fine Art Studio
under the Ministry of Light Industry and
Pyongyang University of Fine Arts. Besides, more
than 100 items of manufactured goods such as
accordion, brass ware, car, lubrication oil and
plastic sashes presented by the Pyongyang
Musical Instrument Factory, the Pothonggang
Ironware Factory and various other factories
were estimated for their style and quality.
The show fully demonstrated the validity and
vitality of the Juche-oriented idea on
industrial fine art and the developing
industrial fine art commensurate with the new
century
National Industrial Art Exhibition Opens
Pyongyang, September 23 (KCNA) -- A national
industrial art exhibition opened with due
ceremony at the Three-Revolution Exhibition
Thursday in celebration of the 60th anniversary
of the Workers' Party of Korea. It drew at least
800 art studios such as the Industrial Art
Studio of the Ministry of Machine-Building, the
Light-Industrial Art Studio of the Ministry of
Light Industry, the Mansudae Art Studio,
Pyongyang University of Fine Art and the
Pyongyang Cosmetics Factory, educational
institutions and factories and enterprises. On
display there are at least 1,200 designs of
different kinds of heavy and light industrial
products, architectural and environmental
decorations, packing goods, advertisements of
goods and others and more than 520 manufactured
goods and "February 2 products".
Also displayed there are designs of brands
examined by leader Kim Jong Il and designs of
different varieties and types of machines
including those of "Naenara" 24 h.p. tractor and
"June 15" electric locomotive.
Battelle to Set Up R&D Center at Korea Univ.
By Moon Gwang-lip
Staff Reporter
The Battelle Memorial Institute, the world's
largest nonprofit research and development
center based in the United States, plans to set
up a laboratory at Korea University in November.
The school said Thursday that Richard Adams,
senior vice president of the institute, and Euh
Yoon-dae, president of Korea University, agreed
to create a ``Battelle@KU Laboratory'' on a 200-
pyong site on its Seoul campus.
The two sides will sign a memorandum of
understanding (MOU) next Monday on the
establishment of the R&D center that they hope
will become a research hub in Asia.
National Computer Program Contest and Exhibition
Held
Pyongyang, September 21 (KCNA) -- The 16th
national computer program contest and exhibition
took place at the Three-Revolution Exhibition
from Sept. 13 to 20. Exhibited there were more
than 750 excellent programs presented by
scientists, technicians and youth and students
in the field of information science and
technology from across the country.
Multimedia "Korean Fine-Art Reflecting History"
Pyongyang, September 16 (KCNA) -- A computer
multimedia program "Korean Fine-Art Reflecting
History" (1-2 vols.) has been recently produced
by Kim Chaek University of Technology in the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea. "In
Search of Unknown Old Calligraphies" (Vol. 2) is
got interested among calligraphers and overseas
Koreans in particular.
It introduces more than 300 pieces of
calligraphies created during the Ri Dynasty. The
multimedia contains calligraphies written by
kings of the Ri Dynasty and over 70 scholars,
military officers and politicians famous in the
history from the 15th to the early 20th century.
Stepped up Veterinary, Anti-Epizootic Work
Pyongyang, September 15 (KCNA) -- September and
October are veterinary and anti-epizootic months
in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. In
this period, the live-stock breeding centers and
families raising domestic animals across the
country are directing efforts to keeping
environment clean and anti-epizootic work.
The large modern poultry farms across the
country including the Hadang and Mangyongdae
Chicken Farms in Pyongyang are engaged in
cleaning and sterilizing swampy lands, feed
stores, puddles and so on to prevent bacilli and
harmful insects from wintering.
The Hamhung City Youth Goat Farm and other
herbivorous animals breeding farms are
investigating the pasture destruction and
pollution and taking relevant steps while
quarantining sheep and goats.
A nation-wide campaign is under way to vaccinate
domestic animals and exterminate harmful
insects.
Meanwhile, the DPRK government has directed
efforts to the prevention of bird flu even after
the State Emergency Veterinary and Anti-
epizootic Committee announced on July 5 that H7*-
style bird flu had been exterminated completely
in the country. A well-arranged system for
investigating migrants has been established in
the country. Special attention is being directed
to observing migrants in the period when they
are moving in connection with the outbreak of
bird influenza in surrounding countries. A
material and technical foundation has been laid
for reporting outbreak of bird flu to the center
instantly and correctly and for preventing
epidemic diseases. Due efforts are being
directed to the development of vaccine according
to bird flu virus.
Multi-purpose Water-Purifying Material Developed
in DPRK
Pyongyang, August 5 (KCNA) -- Researchers of the
Chemical Faculty of Kim Il Sung University have
developed versatile water-purifying material.
The material can quickly remove slime, microbes,
organic matters and even various kinds of heavy
metal and radioactive elements in large
quantities of water.
New Method of Producing Ti Cast-Iron Ball
Developed
Pyongyang, August 3 (KCNA) -- The Ministry of
Metal Industry of the Democratic People's
Republic of Korea has developed a new method of
producing titanium cast-iron ball by direct
alloyage. It has been known that the Ti-alloyed
iron is made by the thermite reduction. This
method is high in cost and low in productivity.
By the new method, it is possible to directly
alloy Ti with the arc heat of electric furnace
and the heat produced in the reaction between a
by-product of aluminum production and the
carbon, silicon and calcium contained in the
burden materials. Ti cast-iron ball made by the
new method contains more than 2.5 percent of C,
0.2-0.4 percent of Ti and less than 0.04 percent
of phosphorus and sulfur. And its hardness is
HRC55.
New Software Developed in DRPK
Pyongyang, July 29 (KCNA) -- The Taehung
Information Centre under the Korea Taehung
General Corporation has developed "Hyesong"
(comet) 3.0, a chemical reaction computer aided
design (CRCAD). It is one of the final goals to
be hit in the research into organic synthetic
chemistry. The purpose of "Hyesong" 3.0, based
on a unique and new principle, is to search the
reasonable and possible path of material
synthesis by comprehensively applying the most
advanced scientific and technical success
achieved by the classical, quantum and statistic
mechanics, statistic trial method, information
science and so on.
It was passed in the state software quality
check and registered on the intellectual patent
list of the DPRK in Juche 93(2004).
Paek Yong Chol of Taehung Information Center,
who led the developing team of "Hyesong" 3.0,
told KCNA that the software would make a
contribution to a leaping development of the
material civilization of humankind.
New Fish Feed Developed in DPRK
Pyongyang, July 28 (KCNA) -- The Branch Academy
of Fishery Science under the Academy of Sciences
of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea has
succeeded in making a new kind of feed for fresh
water fish by cellulose zymotechnics. The feed
is produced by the method of cultivating
cellulose-decomposing bacteria and converting
them into microorganism mycoprotein in a
microbiological engineering way. Cellulose-
decomposing bacteria generate cellulose, starch
and protease at the same time. Feed for rainbow
trout should be mixed with 30-40 percent of the
bacteria and that for warm water fish with 50-60
percent. The mixed feed promotes absorption of
nutriments and growth of fish.
Taiwan turning into top IT rival
July 27, 2005 ? Taiwan is gaining on Korea much
faster than expected in the information
technology industry.
Taiwan is churning out liquid crystal display
screens, cell phones and dynamic random access
memory chips at ever faster rates. Its
production of large LCD screens exceeded Korea's
in April and May.
Research Success of Kim Je Won Haeju University
of Agriculture
Pyongyang, July 26 (KCNA) -- Kim Je Won Haeju
University of Agriculture in the Democratic
People's Republic of Korea has made achievements
in scientific research. The university has
invented a new manuring technology which ensures
the growth of crops in the latter half with a
less amount of fertilizer and makes them bear
good yield. The technology has already proved
fruitful on co-op farms in Pyoksong, Yonan and
other counties of South Hwanghae Province.
The university has also developed a computer
program on the application time of earing
fertilizer.
Testing N-S communications links
Officials from KT Corp. test fax lines and a
direct private phone between South and North
Korea in preparation for video reunions of
separated families at the KT office at Sejong-
no, downtown Seoul, Friday [photo]
2 Koreas Open Private Phone Line
SEOUL (Yonhap) _ South Korea on Friday opened a direct private phone line with
North Korea for the first time in 60 years as part of preparations for video
reunions of separated families next month.
KT Corp., South Korea's biggest fixed-line and broadband Internet operator,
said the phone line links Seoul with the North Korean capital of Pyongyang. A
fax machine connecting the two capitals was also installed.
This is the first private phone link between the two Koreas, though Seoul and
Pyongyang had direct phone lines between their governments in the past.
North Korea's Response to the Globalization and Informatization Era
Shin Jiho
Research Professor, Institute of Social Sciences
Sogang University
Since the end of the Cold War, globalization and informatization have emerged as the two most significant trends at the forefront of the changing global order. The world is being increasingly influenced by these two far-reaching phenomena, much to the chagrin of certain leftist groups. At a time when countries are fretting over how they might adapt to the tides of globalization and informatization, the advanced nations have already developed their own principles and standards and are thus actively participating in the trends. In this regard, for all countries, today's globalization is not a matter of choice, but rather a matter of how it should be adapted to. As such, the all-powerful trends of globalization and informatization do not allow for any exceptions.
This is true of the Korean peninsula as well.
[New Asia Research Institute,
Quarterly New Asia, Vol.12, No.1 Spring 2005]
Success in Research to Prevent Sea Disaster
Pyongyang, July 19 (KCNA) -- Teachers and
researchers of the Global Environmental Science
Faculty of Kim Il Sung University have made
successes in their research to prevent sea
disasters. They, on the basis of a scientific
analysis of oceanographic materials concerning
several hundred points on the east and west
coast of the country, have established a new
tsunami warning system. The system timely and
correctly forecast tsunami epicenter, time,
speed and direction.
In case a seaquake occurs in any place, it also
indicates in detail the size of tsunami, the
time it would take to the shore, damage it may
cause to the coastal areas and measures to
prevent casualties.
Mt. Paektu Rises From Possible Seismic Activity
SEOUL (Yonhap) _ Mt. Paektu, the highest peak on the Korean Peninsula, rose 18
millimeters in a six-year time span in the 1990s, raising speculation that the
dormant volcano may have an active core, scientists here said Wednesday.
A study of data collected by Japanese satellites showed that the mountain's
height increased an average three millimeters per year between 1992-1998.
``The rise in height points to a possibility that Mt. Paektu may not be
completely dormant,'' said Won Joong-sun, an earth science professor at Yonsei
University. ``Magma may be causing the change in height.''
New Material for Electricity Production Developed
Pyongyang, July 13 (KCNA) -- Scientists of Kim
Chaek University of Technology in the Democratic
People's Republic of Korea have succeeded in
developing a new kind of material for
electricity production at thermal power plants.
The cheap material is used for the rotating
cylinders pulverizing fossil fuel to increase
combustion rates in large boilers instead of
expensive alloy steel.
With this material, each power plant can save
tens of tons of alloy steel and a lot of bolts
every year.
New Kind of Composite Fertilizer Developed in
DPRK
Pyongyang, July 5 (KCNA) -- Scientists of the
Academy of Sciences of the Democratic People's
Republic of Korea have developed a new kind of
composite microelement fertilizer. The
fertilizer absorbed into seeds and crops
supplies them with essential microelements
including B, Zn, Cu and Mn during the whole
period of their growth, thus ensuring metabolism
of plants such as photosynthesis and composition
of nutritive substances. It also strengthens
their resistance to salinity, harmful insects,
drought, rain and storm and increases the number
of ears of plant and the number of grains per
ear.
Bush administration to keep control of
internet's central computers
Gary Younge in New York and agencies
Saturday July 2, 2005
The Guardian
The Bush administration has decided to retain
control over the principal computers which
control internet traffic in a move likely to
prompt global opposition, it was claimed
yesterday.
The US had pledged to turn control of the 13
computers known as root servers - which inform
web browsers and email programs how to direct
internet traffic - over to a private,
international body.
But on Thursday the US reversed its position,
announcing that it will maintain control of the
computers because of growing security threats
and the increased reliance on the internet for
global communications. A Japanese government
official yesterday criticised the move, claiming
it will lend momentum to the debate about who
controls the information flow online.
"When the internet is being increasingly
utilised for private use, by business and so
forth, there is a societal debate about whether
it's befitting to have one country maintaining
checks on that ... It's likely to fuel that
debate," said Masahiko Fujimoto, of the ministry
of internal affairs and communications' data
communications division.
The computers serve as master directories that
contain government-approved lists of the roughly
260 suffices used, such as .com or .co.uk.
Anyone who uses the web interacts with them
every day. But a policy decision by the US
could, at a stroke, make all sites ending in a
certain suffix unreachable
N. Korea Reportedly Cuts Int'l Phone Lines
The Associated Press
Tuesday, June 28, 2005; 10:28 AM
SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea has cut most of its international phone lines
since late March over concerns that sensitive information about its society
will flow out of the isolated country, South Korea's spy agency reportedly said
Tuesday.
Spy agency officials told a closed-door session of the National Assembly's
Intelligence Committee that international phone connections had been cut at
most of the North's trading companies and at government agencies since late
March, according to South Korea's Yonhap news agency.
Since April, even people with permits to make
international calls have been able to do so only
under the strict surveillance of security
officials, the report said.
Spy agency officials said the steps were taken
to eliminate sources of instability ahead of the
60th anniversary of Korea's liberation from
Japanese colonial rule, as well as the 60th
anniversary of the founding of its Workers'
Party.
[Media] [Spin]
New Coal Sorting Machine Developed
Pyongyang, June 24 (KCNA) -- Scientists of Kim
Chaek University of Technology of the Democratic
People's Republic of Korea has recently
developed a new kind of coal sorting machine.
It, called two-stage anthracite crushing and
sorting machine, can effectively separate coal
masses and dust from mucks, unlike other sorting
machines.
Associate Prof. Han Yong Chol, who led the
research team, told KCNA that the machine has a
sorting capability of 150 tons per hour
Foreigners Excluded From Korean Sites
By Kim Tae-gyu
Staff Reporter
Actor Kim Han-seop said he once tried to commit suicide because of pornographic
Web sites using his professional name, "Twist Kim," without his permission.
Korea Times
Korea brands itself as a global Internet powerhouse, but its campaign has come
under fire because the nation's strong Internet presence has failed to embrace
foreigners and triggered many side effects.
Graduation Ceremony Held at Computer Design
Training Center
Pyongyang, June 23 (KCNA) -- The first-term
graduation ceremony of the DPRK-Canada Computer
Design Training Center was held at the Korean
Computer Center today. Present there were Han U
Chol, director general of the Korean Computer
Center, officials concerned, trainees and
employees there.
Also on hand were members of the delegation of
the Global Aid Network of Canada (GAN) led by
William Blaney, chief executive officer, and
Canadian teachers staying here.
Congratulatory speeches and addresses of
graduates were made at the ceremony. Then
diplomas were awarded to the graduates.
Participants went round files presented by the
first-term graduates.
Established in 2002 with the aid of the GAN, the
center trains experts on the computer designing
in close cooperation with the Korean Computer
Centre.
North is said to cut back phone use
Brent Choi
June 08, 2005 ? North Korea is aggressively asserting greater control over domestic and international communications, apparently out of fear the United States could launch a preemptive military strike on the country, two sources with closeconnections to North Korea have suggested.
Baby Milk Produced by New Method
Pyongyang, May 17 (KCNA) -- The Pyongyang
Children's Foodstuff Factory in the Democratic
People's Republic of Korea is turning out baby
powdered milk by a new method. The main
ingredient of the milk for babies under the age
of two is maltodextrin made by starch
liquefaction ferment. The new production method
has been developed by technicians of the factory
and scientists of the Grain Processing Institute
under the Branch Academy of Light Industry
Science.
They have found out a highly active bacterial
strain producing liquefaction ferment and raised
its activation 10 times that of existing one.
They also have established a process for
producing such strain of bacteria.
Pyongyang Adopts Global Standards, NK Reporters Say
By Park Song-wu
Staff Reporter
BERLIN - Practicing a photo editing program at a computer room in Berlin, two North Korean journalists explained how people in the isolated country have begun to adopt international standards in some parts of their everyday language.
``Many people (in Pyongyang) call it a computer, not a kaesanki (calculator) anymore,'' said Kim Jong-chol, 36, of the Minju Choson, a Cabinet appendage and one of three major newspapers in North Korea.
Nam Song-il, 39, who works for the North's wire service Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), agreed with Kim, citing another example of changing football terms.
``We frequently use the English term `corner kick' instead of `mosori chaki' because it's an international standard,'' said Nam who began to work as journalist 16 years ago. ``We also use the term `coach' now.''
Even though they were busy processing digital photos for an exhibition, marking the final day of a six-week photo journalism course at the International Institute of Journalism Berlin-Brandenburg (IIJB) on Friday, the two North Koreans were willing to explain recent developments in their newspaper production. [Opening]
Plasma Cutting and Welding Machine Manufactured
Pyongyang, May 12 (KCNA) -- Scientists of the
Laser Institute under the DPRK Academy of
Sciences succeeded in manufacturing a plasma
cutting and welding machine that does not
require welding rods. This machine was
manufactured on the basis of the success made in
developing interrupter-style plasma power
equipment, taking the world trend of development
and actual conditions of the country into
consideration.
How Korea Became Internet Powerhouse
By Kim Tae-gyu
Staff Reporter
Starcraft strategic simulation game
Today, South Korea is indisputably an Internet
powerhouse thanks to the nation's state-of-the-
art infrastructure and tech-aware citizens.
Fixed-line access to the Net is found across the
country with 12 million out of 15 million
households hooked up to the Internet 24-hours a
day at a flat rate of 30,000 won a month.
Anti-Japanese Hostilities Move to the Internet
Chinese and South Korean Hackers Blamed for Digital Barrage Designed to Cripple
Web Sites
By Anthony Faiola
Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, May 10, 2005; Page A12
TOKYO -- In the fortified control room of a major Internet security firm, a
beleaguered team of experts slouched in front of glowing computer screens,
tracking overseas hackers through billions of lines of data. They glanced up
periodically at an electronic world map on the wall where, every few seconds,
red lines lit up, revealing a new cyber-war aimed at Tokyo.
Over the past several months, a series of attacks believed to have originated
in China and South Korea have hit dozens of key public and private Web sites
hosted in Japan. Authorities describe it as the heaviest assault ever
perpetrated on the nation's computer systems from overseas. [NSA] [Cyberwar]
Technological Achievements Reported
Pyongyang, May 5 (KCNA) -- Three-revolution team
members active in different domains of the
national economy in the DPRK have successfully
settled not a few scientific and technological
issues arising in the nation's development of
science and technology and the building of a
great prosperous powerful nation. They have
carried out many scientific and technological
tasks in a little over four years. At least
1,800 technological innovation proposals have
been highly appreciated.
In this period 3,230 members of the three-
revolution teams were awarded various
certificates of science and technology and
hundreds of others had the honor of receiving
high state orders.
IT Exports Lose Steam
[ROK]
By Kim Tae-gyu
Staff Reporter
South Korea's information technology (IT)
exports show a clear sign of losing steam as its
year-on-year export growth rates slow to a
snail's pace.
IT exports to China and the EU jumped 19.8
percent and 9.8 percent to $2 billion and $1
billion in April, respectively. However, the
U.S. snapped up just $950 million in made-in-
Korea products, down by 25.1 percent from a year
earlier.
20th National Festival of Science and Technology
Opens
Pyongyang, May 4 (KCNA) -- The 20th national
festival of science and technology was opened.
It was preceded by local festivals. Present
there were tens of thousands of scientists and
technicians and working people from at least
4,100 units across the country.
Entries into the national festival are more than
430 valuable brief treatises, diagrams, CDs,
etc. on scientific research achievements and
technical innovations which were highly
appreciated at local festivals.
The festival will be divided into 17 panels
including basic and ultra-modern, cultivation
and breeding of crops, electricity, metal,
mining, railways and light industry. They will
involve public presentations and diagram
exhibitions and so on. A seminar on the latest
scientific and technological achievements will
also take place during the festival.
An opening ceremony of the festival took place
at Kim Chaek University of Technology on
Tuesday.
Seed Treatment Substance Developed
Pyongyang, May 4 (KCNA) -- The Central
Experimental Analysis Centre under the Academy
of Sciences of the Democratic People's Republic
of Korea has succeeded in making a new seed
treatment substance from Kumgang medicinal
stone. The substance not only disinfects seeds
but also promotes the growth of plants
Impulse Motor Starting Device Made in DPRK
Pyongyang, April 28 (KCNA) -- Scientists of the
Electricity Institute under the Academy of
Sciences of the Democratic People's Republic of
Korea have made an impulse motor starting
device. The electronic device can automatically
start electric motors of different outputs of
power.
According to Kim Kwang Hyok, director of the
institute, the device is simple to operate and
its production cost is one tenth-one fifteenth
as against frequency transducers with similar
output.
KT Employs NK Agency to Develop Software
By Kim Tae-gyu
Staff Reporter
KT, South Korea's leading fixed-line telecom
operator, will develop sophisticated software
via an outsourcing contract with a Northern
program maker.
KT announced yesterday that the North's
Samcholli General Corp. agreed to complete a
pair of smart telecom software until the end of
November for 164,000 euro.
The two programs are seamless voice recognition
software and a control system of intelligence
network, which can be run under the Internet
environment.
``This is not a symbolic move aimed at improving
the South-North relationship. We made a contract
to develop software that will be used in the
South,'' KT director Kim Tae-hwan said after
signing the deal on Wednesday.
In case Samcholli fails to meet the deadline,
Kim said the state-run IT agency will be
required to pay a penalty amounting to 0.2
percent of the contract money.
Unlike the widespread belief, Kim claimed that
North Korea is not behind in software
development technology although the nation lacks
the proper equipment.
``The North's voice-recognition technology is at
the forefront in the world and it also has a
knack for developing game software. We found the
most competitive software maker for our needs,''
he said.
New Anticancer Medicine Developed
Pyongyang, April 22 (KCNA) -- Researchers of the
Pharmaceutical Institute under the Academy of
Medical Science of the Democratic People's
Republic of Korea have developed a new botanical
anticancer medicine. It contains ingredients
extracted from various kinds of rare plants and
yew growing on the northern mountainous areas of
the country 800-1,000 meters above the sea
level.
Ministry homepage hit by cyber attack
March 21, 2005 ? A Foreign Ministry official said yesterday that the ministry has issued warnings to South Korean overseas missions following cyber attacks apparently originating from Japanese right wing groups.
The warning was issued after the Foreign Ministry's home page came under attack from a Japanese site, suspected of being operated by a right wing Japanese organization. The official said the attack was designed to make the ministry's homepage inaccessible to Internet users.
Korea Dominates Online Tokto War
By Kim Tae-gyu
Staff Reporter
On the strength of its state-of-the-art Internet infrastructure and its net-savvy populace, Korea overwhelms Japan in cyberspace in the recent dispute over the nation's eastern-most islets.
According to Whois, the international domain registration service provider, almost all Tokto-related Internet sites are have been acquired by Koreans.
In addition to Tokto domains like www.tokto.co.kr, most Web sites with titles, such as dokdo or tokdo, belong to Koreans, including dokdo.com, dokdo.net, tokdo.com and tokdo.net.
Internet-conscious Korean people were also fast in preempting takeshima-associated domains like takeshima.com, takeshima.net, and takeshima.org.
Still, Japan retains control over takeshima.co.jp, which is operated by a pharmaceutical company.
How Electronics Are Penetrating North Korea's Isolation
By JAMES BROOKE
Published: March 15, 2005
EOUL, South Korea - Halfway through a video from North Korea, the camera pans
on a propaganda portrait of Kim Jong Il, North Korea's leader, magnificent in
his general's dress uniform with gold epaulets. Scribbled in black ink across
his smooth face is a demand for "freedom and democracy."
If genuine, the graffiti speaks of political opponents willing to risk
execution to get their message out. If staged, the video means that a North
Korean hustler was willing to deface a picture of the "Dear Leader" to earn a
quick profit by selling it to a South Korean human rights group.
Either way, the 35-minute video is the latest evidence that new ways of
thinking are stealing into North Korea, perhaps corroding the steely controls
on ideology and information that have kept the Kim family in power for almost
60 years
New System of Controlling Temperature in
Buildings Developed in DPRK
Pyongyang, March 10 (KCNA) - The Paektusan
Institute of Architecture of the Democratic
People's Republic of Korea has developed a new
system of ensuring a good environmental
temperature inside buildings. Prof. and Dr. Wi
Sok Ryong, who led the development team, told
KCNA that it is a method of conditioning air
with the environmental temperature (the average
temperature of the air and the radiant
temperature of interior walls) as the standard.
It is far superior to the existing method.
It provides 25 degrees C in summer and 22
degrees C in winter, the most proper temperature
stipulated by the ISO in all rooms. With this
system, the user can control the temperature as
he wishes.
This system is based on the development of
environmental thermometer, computerized air-
conditioner providing needed environmental
temperature and the measuring method of heat in
buildings.
The heat measuring method makes it possible to
provide the most proper temperature with even an
air-conditioning facility the capacity of which
is 30 to 40 percent less than the existing one.
New Tile Adhesive Developed
Pyongyang, March 3 (KCNA) -- A new kind of tile
adhesive has been developed by the Building-
materials Institute under the Paekdusan
Institute of Architecture of the Democratic
People's Republic of Korea. It is an inorganic-
organic adhesive which is made in combination of
inorganic fixing agent with water soluble
plastic and other additives.
NK Woman Scientist Wins UNESCO Award
PARIS (Yonhap) _ A North Korean woman scientist has won a prestigious award of
the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) here on
Thursday, along with 13 other scientists.
The award, offered by French cosmetics giant L'Oreal SA, honors distinguished
female scientists under the age of 36 every year. She was given a grant for
about $20,000.
Kye Yong-sun, 32, who became the first North Korean woman to receive the award,
is in a postdoctoral course at a Pyongyang-based scientific institute after
majoring in biochemistry and physics at Kim Il-sung University.
She is to conduct research on producing insect-resistant beans at Nankai
University in Tianjin, China, according to the cosmetics company.
Koryo Medical Science Develops in DPRK
Pyongyang, February 22 (KCNA) -- The Academy of
Koryo Medical Science of the Democratic People's
Republic of Korea has made signal successes
which are of great clinical significance in the
efforts for developing and putting on a
scientific basis the traditional Koryo medicine
in accordance with the requirement of the
present times. Dr.Hyon Chol, vice-president of
the academy, told KCNA that the scientists of
the academy have formulated in a scientific way
traditional therapies for hypertension, angina
pectoris, hypertrophy, hyperlipemia, chronic
pancreatitis and epilepsy with natural Koryo
pharmaceuticals, acupuncture, moxibustion,
cupping, etc.
Government's surveillance program targets
Internet users
February 16, 2005 ? An investigative arm of the
Korean government has been secretly preparing a
surveillance system for tracking Internet users
and monitoring all activity on certain Web sites.
According to a top-secret report from the
Supreme Public Prosecutors' Office, obtained
exclusively by the JoongAng Ilbo, the system
would enable investigators to conduct round-the-
clock surveillance of all activity at targeted
Web sites, including sites based at the
community Internet portals popular in Korea.
[human rights]
Scientists Promote Economic Construction
Pyongyang, February 14 (KCNA) -- The February 17
Shock Brigade of Scientists and Technicians has
done its bit in solving important scientific and
technical issues arising in economic
construction in the Democratic People's Republic
of Korea. The scientists and technicians
dispatched to the Rakwon Machine Complex and the
Songjin Steel Complex have manufactured
efficient machines including oxygen separator,
which is of great significance in iron and steel
production, and modernized various production
processes.
The shock brigade is a team of competent
scientists and technicians which was formed to
swiftly solve urgent scientific and technical
issues arising in major economic projects
Inter-Korean Telecom Agreement Reached
By Kim Tae-gyu
Staff Reporter
South and North Korea agreed to set up cross-
border telephone lines to the Kaesong Industrial
Complex, situated just north of the
Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).
KT, South Korea's largest fixed-line carrier, on
Thursday said it had reached an agreement on the
telephone lines, which will be the first private
telecom gateway through the DMZ in half a
century.
``With the conclusion of the long-standing
telephone-line deal, the biggest stumbling block
for the Kaesong project was cleared away. We
will discuss specific conditions with Pyongyang,
such as the number of lines,'' a KT spokesman
said.
The call rate, the most thorny issue of the long-
stalled negotiations which started in April,
will be set no more than 50 cents per minute,
much less than the North's current international
call charges of $4 a minute.
New Kind of Converter Developed in DPRK
Pyongyang, December 28 (KCNA) -- The Branch
Academy of Railway Science under the Academy of
Sciences of the Democratic People's Republic of
Korea has developed a new kind of converter to
be used in lighting of passenger train. Merited
scientist and associate Prof. Pang Sung Gwan
told KCNA that this 30 kilowatt device converts
high voltage of direct current flowing through
railway lines into alternating current to supply
electricity for fluorescent lamp and
incandescent electric lamp as well as electric
fan, air conditioner and heating equipment in
train.
The converter, as big as twice an ordinary
filing cabinet, saves direct-current motor,
generator for lighting of passenger car, much
manpower, materials and funds. And its
production cost is very low.
The converter enjoys good popularity at home and
abroad.
Pyongyang Far From Computer Illiterate
On a recent visit to North Korea, Nayan Sthankiya got a snapshot of the
People's Study Hall
There is a notion in the rest of the world that North Korea as a whole is
backwards and struggling. It has little infrastructure and is for the most part
computer illiterate.
In a recent trip to the North I found very much the opposite, though the
availability of computers seems localized to Pyongyang and they are often
incapacitated by the numerous power outages that regularly affect the country.
The average North Korean family does not have a computer in their home and
Internet access is not available to the general population, which is not
surprising given the state controlled information policies. Not so long ago,
Internet access in China was unheard of.
Korea No. 2 Spam-Sending Country
By Kim Tae-gyu
Staff Reporter
One in seven spam mails worldwide was sent from
South Korea this year, according to a security
software firm which tracks the online nuisance.
The U.S.-based Sophos said Saturday that 13.43
percent of all junk messages sent this year came
from Korea to earn the unenviable second-worst
spot, only trailing the spam-sending kings, the
United States with 42.11 percent.
China comes in at third with 8.44 percent
followed by Canada with 5.71 percent, Brazil
with 3.34 percent, Japan with 2.57 percent,
France with 1.37 percent, Spain with 1.18
percent, Germany with 1.03 percent, Britain with
1.13 percent, Taiwan with 1 percent and Mexico
with 0.89 percent.
The firm warned many spammers are using hacked
computers with broadband connections to send out
the unwanted commercial messages and this could
explain Korea's position near the top of the
list, as it leads the world for broadband
penetration.
The 'Great Educator' pops up online, again
December 23, 2004 ? The Web site of Kim Il Sung
Open University, a distance learning program
operated by communist North Korea, was found to
be accessible ? again ? by South Koreans.
The Ministry of Information and Communication
blocked the site last month, as well as 30 other
sites that the government considers to be
spreading "pro-North Korea" ideas.
"This is the Web site that we blocked on Nov.
17, but it is available again because the
Internet protocol address changed," said a
spokesman for the ministry. "But the URL is
still the same. It's the first time that the
North did not change an Internet address to
evade the South's inspection."
The spokesman said that the National
Intelligence Service and police are working to
discover how the site became available to South
Koreans again.
[human rights] [National Security Law]
Kang Po, Mathematician of Koryo
Pyongyang, December 17 (KCNA) -- Mathematics has
been developed on a high level in Korea from
olden times. Kang Po, a mathematician and
astronomer of Koryo (918~1392), found out an
interpolation of higher degree already in the
14th century and thus made a great contribution
to the development of mathematics and astronomy.
He introduced into the observation of the
celestial sphere movement the interpolation for
calculating the deviation between its average
angle movement and its actual angle movement. It
made it possible to ensure the accuracy in
measuring the positions of the sun and planets
at any date (time) with already observed
materials.
North Korea's Adoption of the Latest Science & Technology This Year
Having demonstrated its strong focus on the science and information industries with "Economic Science" together with "Political Philosophy" and "Anti-Imperialistic Philosophy" as the three major strategies for turning North Korea into a powerful nation, North Korea has been aggressively pursuing exchanges and cooperation with external partners (on 41 items with 21 countries) in an effort to adopt leading scientific and technological developments.
? "Strive to achieve phenomenal developments in the areas of economy, science and technology by modernizing the nation's economy based on adoption of leading technologies from abroad" (A Study on Economy June 2004)
Protocol Signed between DPRK and China
Beijing, December 10 (KCNA) -- A protocol of the
40th meeting of the Inter-Governmental Committee
on Scientific and Technological Cooperation
between the DPRK and China was signed here
today. Present there from the DPRK side were
members of the DPRK government scientific and
technological delegation led by Ri Ui Gu, vice-
president of the Academy of Sciences, and from
the Chinese side were Wu Zhongze, vice-minister
of Science and Technology, and officials
concerned.
"PC Café" Attracts Youth in Pyongyang
Young people in Pyongyang enjoying their PC life
in the PC cafe run by High-tech Engineering
Service Co., located in Mangyongdae District in
Pyongyang.
Optical fiber cable communication networks were
built on a nationwide scale in the DPRK in 2000.
Facilities offering services to PC users have
been established in Pyongyang recently. The
facilities, called, "PC café" are popular among
Pyongyangites, particularly young people.
There are six or seven PC cafes in Pyongyang,
and these facilities have been built this year.
The biggest PC cafe is run by High-Tech
Engineering Service Co, located in front of
Kwangbok Station of the Pyongyang Subway Line in
the Mangyongdae District.
There are some hundred computers in the PC cafe.
Each computer is linked to nation-wide computer
networks with optical fiber cable, and they have
a 100Mbps (100Mbit per second) transmission
speed. Users can send e-mail, do web-browsing
and receive chat services. By making good use of
the DPRK's internal broadband, people can access
movie streaming service and online games in the
PC cafe.
Users are charged 400 won for using a PC cafe.
The Internet is not available because the DPRK
has not been connected to the Internet.
S. Korean Government Blocks Access to "Pro-North
Korea WebSites
The Solidarity for Reunification holding a press
conference in front of the Ministry of
Information and Communication in Seoul.
The South Korean government pursues a measure to
hinder access to so-called "pro-North Korea
websites." According to this measure, it has
become difficult for South Korean people to
visit 31 sites, including the KCNA, Choson
Sinbo, Uriminzokkiri.com and Center for Korean
Affairs, Inc.
The Ministry of Information and Communication in
Seoul disclosed on Nov. 15 that it has taken a
measure to cut access to pro-North Korea
Internet sites based in foreign countries.
Return to top of page
NOVEMBER 2004
National Scientific and Technological Symposium
on Sandstorms Held
Pyongyang, November 26 (KCNA) -- A national
scientific and technological symposium on
sandstorms and prevention of their damage was
held here on Nov. 24 and 25 under the
sponsorship of the Central Committee of the
Korean General Federation of Science and
Technology. Present there were officials,
scientists and technicians in the fields of
hydrometeorology, geology, land and environment
protection, health care and agriculture from all
parts of the country.
Lifting of Ban on Operation of Internet Sites
and Total Abolition of NSL Demanded
Pyongyang, November 25 (KCNA) -- The
Reunification Solidarity and Jinbo Network in
south Korea jointly made public a protest letter
demanding the government lift the ban on the
operation of Internet sites and totally abolish
the "National Security Law" (NSL) on Nov. 19,
according to a news report. The letter branded
the government's ban on the operation of
Internet sites listed as "pro-north sites" as
the action to suppress the freedom of expression
by invoking the most evil article of the NSL and
an anti-reunification action as it goes against
the demand of the present times for south-north
reconciliation.
The letter went on: The government is playing
into the hands of the ultra-right conservative
forces. It should build a solid groundwork for
the abolition of the NSL and south-north
reconciliation.
The government should positively opt for lifting
the anti-reunification ban on the operation of
Internet sites and totally repealing the NSL,
mindful that it must deal with all the issues in
favour of national reunification.
NK Criticizes Seoul's Block on Pro-Pyongyang Web Sites
By Park Song-wu
Staff Reporter
A journalists' association in North Korea has slammed Seoul for blocking access
to pro-Pyongyang Web sites, arguing that it violates South Koreans'
constitutional rights.
Pyongyang's Korea Central News Agency (KCNA)
quoted the association's statement Thursday as
saying that Seoul's decision to cut access to 31
Web sites, including uriminzokkiri.com, is a
``wicked'' attempt to drive inter-Korean
relations back into a past era of confrontation.
The North claimed it has operated uriminzokkiri
to help South Koreans get a true picture of
North Korea.
North Korean Company Launches Cyber Marketing
[Beijing, KOTRA]
A North Korean company has taken an unusual step of going online to publicize itself and its products. Korea Pugang Corp. recently opened its Internet home page (www.pugangcorp.com) after registering its domain in May. The Website shows that the company is headquartered at Pulgungori 2-dong, Potonggang District, Pyongyang.
On its home page, the corporation introduces itself as one that comprises such :component companies; as Pugang Trading, Pugang Pharmaceutical, Pugang Drinking Water and Pugang Crystals. It also says that it has factories working in such fields as metallurgy, mining, machinery, chemicals, electric, electronic, glassware and timber.
Korea Pugang Corporation
Korea Pugang Corporation was incorporated on July 3, 1979 with a commitment to render a service to the nation for its economic prosperity.
The Corporation's registered capital is 3 billion Won (some US$ 20 million) and its annual average turnover foots up to 22.5 billion Won (some US$ 150 million).
Korea Pugang Corporation comprises some management sections and such component companies as Pugang Trading Corp., Pugang Coins Corp., Pugang Pharmaceutic Co., Ltd, Pugang Drinking Waters Co., Ltd., and Pugang Crystals Co., Ltd.
The Corporation runs gold mines, mints, factory of alcohol, pharmaceutical plants, drinking water factories, and other large number of factories of various industries such as metallurgy, mining, machinery, chemicals, electric, electronic, glassware, and timber.
The Corporation has off-shore branch offices or agents in Beijing, Dandong, Ji'an, Shanghai, Moscow, Nakhodka, Havana, Berlin, Sofia, Warsaw, Fribourg(Switzerland), Karachi, Kuala Lumpur, Cairo, Damascus, and Addis Ababa.
Internet Cafes Enjoy Popularity in Pyongyang
[Yonhap,Nov.12th]
Internet cafes are slowly beginning to catch on with North Korean youths in Pyongyang, a pro-North Korean newspaper in Japan reported this week. "A growing number of young students are flocking to Internet cafes after school, with many of them staying there until their closing hour of 9 p.m.," the Tokyo-based Choson Sinbo said Thursday.
Lift of Ban on Connection with Internet Sites
Demanded
Pyongyang, November 23 (KCNA) -- The Society for
Cooperation among Koreans in Germany reportedly
released a statement on Nov. 18 demanding the
lift of ban on connection with Internet sites.
Referring to the fact that the conservative
forces of south Korea cut off any connection
with Internet sites of at least 30 overseas
Koreans' organizations on the charge of being
"pro-north sites," the statement denounced the
south Korean authorities for this action.
S. Korean Authorities' Action to Cut Off
Operation of Internet Sites Assailed
Pyongyang, November 23 (KCNA) -- A spokesman for
the National Democratic Front of south Korea on
Nov. 19 released a statement denouncing the
south Korean authorities' action to cut off the
operation of "pro-north sites," according to
Kuguk Jonson Internet site. The statement
branded this anachronistic action as fascist
tyranny as it ruthlessly infringes upon the
people's right to know and an intolerable
perfidy to the historic June 15 joint
declaration supported by all the Koreans. It
strongly demanded the south Korean authorities
immediately lift this ban. The authorities
instructed the Ministry of Information and
Telecommunication to force the business bodies
for Internet information service to close all
north-related sites, the statement said, and
went on:
Quality Artificial Bone Developed in DPRK
Pyongyang, November 23 (KCNA) -- The Hamhung
Orthopaedic Hospital in South Hamgyong Province,
the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, has
succeeded in making quality artificial bones and
introducing them to clinical treatment. The head
and axis of the artificial bone are of same
material and covered with substances which can
be welded strongly with human bones in the
clinical treatment. The artificial one
assimilates itself to and organically compounds
with human body and is non-toxic. It, therefore,
relieves the patients of pains and helps recover
their health quickly.
Seoul blocks access to 31 North Web sites
November 19, 2004 ? The Ministry of Information
and Communication said yesterday that it has
blocked access to 31 Internet sites operated by
North Korea, or sites containing what South
Korea considers "pro-North Korea" propaganda.
The National Intelligence Service and the
National Police Agency asked the information
ministry to block the sites; the ministry took
action on Nov. 12, the ministry's spokesman said.
The Web sites include the site of the Korea
Central News Agency, the North's state-run wire
news service, and that of Kim Il Sung Open
University, a distance learning program operated
by the communist state to spread the country's
founding juche, or self-reliance, ideology.
The action was based on the National Security
Law, which bars the spread of materials praising
North Korea and its leaders.
[Human rights]
Block on North Korean Web
Block on North Korean Web Site Exasperates Net
Users South Korea's 'unconstitutional' national
security laws provoke calls for freedom of
information
"To lose weight, eat reasonably at dinner and
stand up watching television."
"Pumpkin milk is the ideal drink to prevent
obesity, and soy beans are a good food for
losing weight."
This advice might seem a little strange to us, but it originates from North
Korea. The above came to light in August on the North Korean Internet Web site,
"North Korea Info Bank," which we now cannot access in South Korea. When these
secrets were revealed, the unfamiliar North Korean expressions and North Korean
diet methods drew much interest from Southern Internet users.
The local South Korean press, too, cited North Korea Info Bank in reports about
North Korean diet methods. At the time, the Web site was looked upon favorably
as a way for North and South Korean Internet users to broaden their
understanding of one another through an exchange of information on the Internet.
Three months later, however, North Korea Info Bank now finds itself categorized
as a "pro-North Korean Web site." Moreover, accused of being in violation of
the National Security Law, the site has been blocked in South Korea since Nov.
12. This is because the National Police Agency, National Intelligence Service
(NIS) and the Ministry of Information and Communication (MIC) ordered Internet
service providers like Korea Telecom and Hanaro Telecom to block connections to
the site.
[Human rights]
Pro-North Korea Web Sites Blocked in South Korea
(A) New web Sites Blocked:
1. ???? (www.kcna.co.jp) KCNA
2. ???? (www.korea-np.co.jp) Korea News (Tokyo)
3. ???? (www.minjok.com) Minjok Tongshin (Los Angeles)
4. ?????? (www.onekorea.org) Center for Korean Affairs
5. ?????? (www.uriminzokkiri.com) Ourselves
6. ????????(???) (www.jpth.net) Peaceful Unification of Fatherland
7. ??????????(???) (www.korea-htr.com/chuo) Association of Koreans in Japan
8. ??? (www.baekdoo.hyperboards.com) Mt. Baikdu
9. ????????? (www.members.fortunecity.com/ym2) Union for Freedom and Peace
10. ???? ????? (www.kancc.org) Federation of Koreans in America
11. ??? (www.baekdoonet.has.it) Mt. Baikdu Network
12. ????? (www.dprkoreamusic.com) North Korean Music
13. ????21 (www.tongil21.com) 21st Century Unification
14. ???? (www.ndfsk.dyndns.org) Fatherland Restoration Front
15. ?????????? (www.chongryon.com) General Association of Koreans in Japan
16. ?????? (www.krbook.net/index-k.htm) Korean Books
17. ????? ??? ????(???) (www.moaksan.net) Mt. Moaksan
18. ????? (www.krsrt.com) Korean People's Love
19. ??????? (www.worldcorea.net) The World of Korea
20. ???? (www.dklotto.com) Fatherland Restoration
21. ????? (www.arirang.dprkorea.com) Arirang for Unification
22. ???? (www.silibank.com/silibank/korea) Sil-li Bank of Korea
23. ??? (www.kcckp.net) My Country
24. ???? (www.dprk-stamp.com) North Korean Stamps
25. ????? (www.dprk-book.com) North Korean Publications
(B) Prior Web Sites Blocked
1. ??? ????? (www.bommin.net) People's United Front
2. ?????? (www.dprkorea.com) North Korea Info Home Page
3. ????? (www.jupae.com) Jupai
4. ??? ? (jajoo.fu.st) The Path to Patriotism
5. ?????? (www.minjog.org) National Self-Rule University
6. ???? (www.big.or.jp/~jddr/index.html) Korean Music
7. one-corea (www.one-corea.net) One Korea
8. ????????? (www.syccr.com) Federation of Koreans in China
(C) Pro-North Sites Not Yet Blocked
1. ?????? (www.korea-dpr.com) Korean Friendship Association
2. ???? (www.koryobaduk.com) Korean Chess
3. ?????? (www.pic-international.com) Pyongyang News Center
4. ?????(?????? ????) (www.chaju.org) The Voice
of National Independence
5. ????????
(www.geocities.com/songunpoliticsstudygroup)
Army First Research Center
6. ???? (www.cnet-ta.ne.jp/juche/defaulte.htm)
Juche Research Center of Japan
7. ???? (www.dprknta.com) North Korea Tourism
NK Youth Take to Internet Cafes: Report
SEOUL (Yonhap) - Internet cafes are slowly
beginning to catch on with North Korean youth in
Pyongyang, a pro-North Korean newspaper in Japan
reported last week.
``A growing number of young students are
flocking to Internet cafes after school, with
many of them staying there until they close at 9
p.m.,'' the Tokyo-based Choson Sinbo said
Thursday.
It's not just the youth. Adults are showing a
keen interest in acquiring computer skills at
Internet cafes, called ``PC pang'' in Korean,
the paper said.
Pentagon Envisioning a Costly Internet for War
By TIM WEINER
Published: November 13, 2004
The Pentagon is building its own Internet, the military's world wide web for
the wars of the future.
The goal is to give all American commanders and troops a moving picture of all
foreign enemies and threats - "a God's-eye view" of battle.
This "Internet in the sky," Peter Teets, under secretary of the Air Force, told
Congress, would allow "marines in a Humvee, in a faraway land, in the middle of
a rainstorm, to open up their laptops, request imagery" from a spy satellite,
and "get it downloaded within seconds."
The Pentagon calls the secure network the Global Information Grid, or GIG.
Conceived six years ago, its first connections were laid six weeks ago. It may
take two decades and hundreds of billions of dollars to build the new war net
and its components.
Skeptics say the costs are staggering and the technological hurdles huge.
Vint Cerf, one of the fathers of the Internet and a Pentagon consultant on the
war net, said he wondered if the military's dream was realistic. "I want to
make sure what we realize is vision and not hallucination," Mr. Cerf said.
Homepage Praising Three Generals of Mt. Paektu
Opened
Pyongyang, November 11 (KCNA) -- The Association
for Friendship with the Korean People opened a
new Internet homepage "The Three Generals of Mt.
Paektu; Generalissimo Kim Il Sung, Marshal Kim
Jong Il, Mother Kim Jong Suk" on Nov. 5. The
homepage carries the portraits of the three
generals of Mt. Paektu and informs its users of
the fact that a monument depicting the three
great generals in the area of the secret camp of
Mt. Paektu would be erected next year which will
mark the 60th anniversaries of the Workers'
Party of Korea and the liberation of Korea to
meet the desire of progressive humankind.
The homepage calls upon over 3,500 members of
the association and its users to post many
articles praising the three generals of Mt.
Paektu and inspiring the builders of the
monument.
The opening of the homepage attracted so great
interest of surfers that 150,000 people from all
walks of life are using it on a daily average.
(Note no url given!)
S. Korean Authorities Denounced for Cutting Off
Connection to Internet Site
Pyongyang, November 11 (KCNA) -- The Internet
site "The Institute of Reunification Studies"
operated by overseas Koreans reportedly released
a statement on Nov. 1, denouncing the scheme of
the south Korean authorities to cut off the
connection to the site. The statement noted that
the act of "the National Intelligence Service"
and "the National Police Office" for severing
the link to the Internet site in south Korea,
labeling it "a pro-north site overseas," is a
savage and frantic din.
The statement called on all the progressive
organizations to turn out in a fight to check
this scheme of the south Korean authorities.
[Human rights] [National Security Law]
Classes from Dear Leader on the Web
November 11, 2004 ? After 42 years of beaming
lessons from North Korea by radio, the
university named for the country's late founder,
Kim Il Sung, has announced it has entered the
Internet age, with the opening of a Web site for
its "distance learning" program.
On Monday, by way of a computer base in Japan,
the university began to offer courses on the
history of North Korean leaders and the memoirs
of Mr. Kim.
Seoul officials, who have not yet moved to block
the new means of disseminating North Korean
propaganda, called the move to the Internet an
upgrade of efforts by the North to spread
communism in South Korea.
In the introduction on the Kim Il Sung Open
University's Web site, www.ournation-school.com,
Yang Hyong-sop, the university's president and
the vice president of the North's legislature,
said the education programming is aimed at
spreading the North's juche, or self-reliance,
ideology around the world. The Internet, he
said, was a way to meet the needs of a younger
generation.
While the ambitions may be broad, the North's
new effort clearly appears to target South
Korean Internet users because it is exclusively
in Korean.
"Switching over from radio to the Internet is
evidence that North Korea has learned of the
Internet's power," a South Korean government
official said. "If South Koreans are exposed by
the Internet to juche ideology, the aftermath
could be more serious than a breach of the inter-
Korean border."
Spreading its ideology is a key piece of the
North Korean Workers' Party's platform and
underpins North Korea's desire to unify with the
South under a communist system.
The National Intelligence Service and Seoul
police recently provided the Ministry of
Information and Communication with a list of 43
Internet sites that are designated as pro-North
Korean. The ministry said it has plans to block
31 of the sites before the end of the month.
Kim Il Sung University's Web site is not on the
list, and no decision has been made yet with
regard to it, officials from the ministry and
the intelligence agency said.
by Lee Young-jong
[PYR] [Human rights] [National Security Law]
Conservatives Set to Wage Ideological War on Internet
By Na Jeong-ju
Staff Reporter
Ideological conflict is expected to escalate with conservative groups,
including the Korea Veterans Association (KVA), set to battle against
progressive forces on the Internet.
The veterans association said about 50,000 people will participate in the
online drive against progressives to raise support for the fight over various
controversial ideological issues.
At the heart of the clash are the four reform bills, including one aimed at
abolishing the National Security Law, which has served as an anti-communist
apparatus for the half-century since the end of 1950-53 Korean War. The Roh
Moo-hyun administration and the ruling Uri Party have been pushing for the
legislation of the four bills, which has angered conservatives.
Nat'l Scientific Idea Contest among Students of
Middle Schools No.1
Phyongsong, November 5 (KCNA) -- A national
scientific idea contest among students of middle
schools No.1 was held in Phyongsong, South
Phyongan Province from November 2 to 5. It
brought together at least 400 students chosen at
provincial competitions. Entries included more
than 640 works of clever and peculiar creation
and invention, including science fictions,
science fiction paintings, scientific essays and
programs
Production of Scientific and Educational Films
Brisk
Pyongyang, November 5 (KCNA) --The production of
scientific and educational films is brisk in the
DPRK to widely disseminate scientific and
technological knowledge among its working people
and school youth and children. Over the last
three decades since leader Kim Jong Il clearly
indicated the main tasks before the creators of
scientific and educational films on Nov. 6,
Juche 63 (1974) they have produced a lot of
films that extensively and profoundly deal with
various fields of the national economy, ultra-
modern science and technology and education,
public health and culture.
15th National Computer Program Contest and
Exhibition Held
The 15th national computer program contest and
exhibition was held at the Three-Revolution
Exhibition from October 1 to 14. Displayed there
were at least 640 excellent programs developed
by scientists, researchers and students in the
ministries, central organizations, research
institutes and universities in the DPRK. From
the programs, participants could obtain
information on the current development of the
DPRK's economy in which foundations for
information industry have already been laid. It
could be seen that the desire to seek utility
was reflected in the field of program
development.
Scanning Tunnel Microscope Invented in DPRK
Pyongyang, October 14 (KCNA) -- DPRK scientists
and technicians invented a scanning tunnel
microscope of world level. The microscope (STM)
made by a research team of the Faculty of
Physics and the Institute of Electronic
Materials of Kim Il Sung University consists of
a needle scanning device, a device for precise
transfer of sample, a vibration proof device,
computer-control system and others. It is an
ultra-modern nano-measuring instrument capable
of examining the distribution of atoms and
molecules in the space of 1 to 50nm.
Standardization Work Active in DPRK
Pyongyang, October 14 (KCNA) -- Great efforts
are being directed to the standardization work
for raising the quality of goods in the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea on the
occasion of the World Standards Day which falls
on October 14. The government calls on all
sectors and units of the national economy to
fully meet the demand of standardization and
encourages the officials in the field of quality
control to have a strong sense of
responsibility, fully play their role and
improve their business qualifications so as to
combine science and technology closely with
production and ensure economic profits.
Mass media and educational institutions give
people a correct understanding of the
standardization work through enlightenment
activities.
The DPRK joined the International Organization
for Standardization (ISO) on June 22, Juche 52
(1963).
It has strengthened relations with the ISO and the IEC (International
Electrotechnical Commission) and received various standards and data from them.
Besides, it has concluded agreements on cooperation in the field of
standardization with different countries including China and Russia and
invigorated exchange in this field.
The ISO and IEC have rendered much assistance to the DPRK in the work of
standardization.
DPRK-China Cooperation in Field of Oceanography
Pyongyang, October 13 (KCNA) -- There were talks
between a delegation of the DPRK Hydro-
Meteorological Service and a delegation of the
State Oceanic Administration of China in
Pyongyang on Oct. 13. At the talks both sides
exchanged views on further developing the
cooperation in the field of oceanography between
the two countries and a series of matters of
mutual concern.
North Korea Getting Wired, But Locally, Scientist Says
[Yonhap,Oct.4th]
With the spread of email and rise of log-on places, North Korea is getting wired in everyday life and business, although the networking is still limited within the border, according to a report available in Seoul Monday. "Domestic intra-net based on the Internet technology is getting popular among ordinary individuals," said Ri Sang-chun, a senior member of the Science and Technology Institute, an organization of ethnic Koreans in Japan, which has close ties with North Korea.
"The networking system yet operates within the domestic boundary, but the growth of the infrastructure will lead North Korea's information technology to grow fast," he said. Ri's report was published in Seoul last week in a bi-monthly South Korean magazine by the state-run Science & Technology Policy Institute in Seoul.
According to the report, Internet shopping malls have recently begun to appear, approved by a state-run certification agency. Many technology shops in Pyongyang have created their own sites to take orders. For example, the "Cutting-edge Technology Center" near a subway station in Pyongyang advertises domestic machines and imported products on its Web site, the report said.
Also, email has become the main media for business to promote their overseas deals. It's cheaper than telephone or fax, and companies believe they can make their deals more efficiently and faster through on-line written texts, it said. The Internet is also popular in the media and other sectors. the North's main newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, has been running its Web edition and updates it almost daily.
Ri said North Korea established an Internet cafe in Pyongyang in April for the first time with its own technology. Price is high with 500 won (US$3 to 4) per hour, which makes up a quarter of the monthly salary of an average worker, and connections are slow with 100 Mbps optic cables and telephone lines. But it is usually crowded with college students who drop by to check emails and play games after their school is over, he said.
The North's first Internet cafe was opened in Pyongyang in May 2002 by a South Korean company, Hoonnet, mainly for foreigners in the isolated communist country. It provided high-speed technology in a joint project with a North Korean trade company. Also, the North's Korean Central Broadcasting Station reported last year that an Internet cafe opened in Pyongyang with support from an ethnic Korean in China.
Highly Efficient Sensors Developed in DPRK
Pyongyang, October 6 (KCNA) -- The Electronics
Institute under the Academy of Sciences of the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea has
developed various kinds of sensors with nano-
structured porous silicon materials. Director of
the institute Ryo Hyo Jong told KCNA that while
examining the electric, optical, thermodynamic
and mechanical properties of the silicon
materials, the research team found the thermo-
electromotive force of the silicon materials is
5-10 times that of the existing thermoelectric
materials
National Public Presentation of Nano Science and
Technology Held
Pyongyang, September 24 (KCNA) -- The 2nd
National Public Presentation of Nano Science and
Technology took place at Kim Chaek University of
Technology on Sept. 22 and 23. Scientists and
technicians, teachers and researchers in the
fields of science and education across the
country presented at least 90 papers on the
achievements made in studying, developing and
applying Nano science and technology.
Hackers or cyber-soldiers?
Date: September 16, 2004
Source: Computer Crime Research Center
By: Dmitri Kramarenko
Dr. Vladimir Golubev, CCRC Director was interviewed by Mr. Bernhard Warner,
European Internet Correspondent for Reuters.
In North Korea's mountainous Hyungsan region, a military academy specializing in electronic warfare has been churning out 100 cybersoldiers every year for nearly two decades. Graduates of the elite hacking program at Mirim College are skilled in everything from writing computer viruses to penetrating network defences and programming weapon guidance systems. Yet Pentagon and State Department officials say they are unable to confirm South Korea's claims that Mirim or any other North Korean hacker academy even exists. And some U.S. defence experts accuse South Korea of hyping the cyber threat posed by its northern neighbour, which they claim is incapable of seriously disrupting the U.S. military. Representatives of South Korea's National Intelligence Service, as well as its Institute for Defence Analyses and Information Security Agency, did not respond to requests for more information about Mirim College or North Korea's information warfare capability. In its 2000 annual report, South Korea's Ministry of National Defence said a 5 percent budget increase was allocated mainly for projects such as "the buildup of the core capability needed for coping with advanced scientific and information warfare." The report also revealed that South Korea's military has 177 "computer training facilities" and had trained more than 200,000 "information technicians." Meanwhile, in North Korea the lack of basic necessities, such as a reliable electrical grid, presents huge obstacles to the creation of information-technology infrastructure, according to Peter Hayes, executive director of the Nautilus Institute, who published a recent study of North Korea's IT aspirations.
Explanation Meeting for Establishing the Pyongyang Science & Technology U Was Held in Silicon Valley
[San Francisco, KOTRA]
The following is some information about the explanation meeting, held in the Silicon valley area on August 7, 2004, on the Pyongyang Science & Technology University to attract Korean people abroad to participate in the project.
The explanation about the establishment of the Pyongyang Science & Technology University, known as the first S.Korea/N.Korea joint university, was held on August 7, in the city of San Jose.
The explanation about the establishment of the Korean university was held at the San Jose Korean Baptist Church at 6:00 PM, and hosted by the CBMC (president Lee Chung-gu), was conducted by Lee Gyeong-ho, a professor at Yanbian University and a committee member of the Pyongyang Science & Technology University establishment.
Pyeongyang phones on blink, or are they?
Contradictory reports on telephone communication
disruptions at foreign missions and
international organizations in Pyeongyang have
surfaced. Russia's Itar-Tass News Agency
reported that foreign organizations in the North
Korean capital were unable to make local calls,
but UN agency officials said they have suffered
no inconveniences.
Foreign missions and international organizations
have faced disruptions in their operations
because of telephone failures since Tuesday, the
Russian wire service said. International and
long-distance services have reportedly been
working at those institutions.
Radio Free Asia, however, reported yesterday
that other foreign officials have experienced no
inconveniences. The World Health Organization's
representative in Pyeongyang told the station
"no special problems" had occurred. [information]
Fifth National Programming Competition in
Educational Field
Pyongyang, August 25 (KCNA) - The 5th National
Programming Competition in the Education Field
took place in Pyongyang from Aug. 19 to 24.
Participating in the competition were over 300
students and pupils who had been rated high in
the provincial competitions.
The competition involved preliminary contests
and finals, divided into 6 groups such as
university, college and provincial, city and
county (district) middle schools no.1 and middle
schools. And there were held special skill
contests with the participation of students of
10 universities highly appraised in the
competition last year and middle school pupils
who took the first 10 places in the finals this
time.
The competition put forward questions in
programming that represented the appearance of
education in the DPRK developing in depth as
required by the IT era and world-level IT.
4th Pyongyang International Scientific and
Technological Books Fair Closes
Pyongyang, September 15 (KCNA) -- The 4th
Pyongyang International Scientific and
Technological Books Fair which had been open
since September 12 closed. The closing ceremony
was held at the Grand People's Study House on
September 14.
Present there were Choe Thae Bok, secretary of
the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of
Korea, Mun Jae Chol, acting chairman of the
Korean Committee for Cultural Relations with
Foreign Countries who was chairman of the
organizing committee of the fair
New Vegetable Cultivation Method Developed in DPRK
Pyongyang, September 13 (KCNA) -- The Academy of Agricultural Science of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea has succeeded in the research into a new vegetable cultivation technology. The new method is suitable for
the climate of the country.
It makes it possible to reap a higher yield than the existing methods while shortening the period of growing vegetable sprouts and having their roots struck.
The new method can increase photosynthesis and disease-resistance of vegetables even in unfavorable conditions. And the shortening of the root-striking period brings the harvest 1.2 times earlier than the old methods. In
case of spring vegetables, they do not need vinyl sheets.
Researchers told KCNA that they have applied this method to different farms and produced more vegetables than the old ones.
The new method is being widely introduced in vegetable farms across the country
Police Announce 43 Active Pro-North Korean
Websites
SEPTEMBER 08, 2004 21:52
by Jong-Koo Yoon (needjung@donga.com
jkmas@donga.com)
The police have caught 43 pro-North Korean
websites that advertise the North Korean regime
or praise Kim Jong-il and his late father Kim Il-
sung. The police have also discovered that the
North Korean government has recently started to
fully utilize those websites.
Yesterday, National Security Division 2 at the
Korean National Police Agency announced that the
number of pro-North Korean websites that are
accessible from South Korea has reached 43 so
far, an increase of 12 from late 2003.
All of the 43 websites have foreign-based
servers: 17 in Japan, 11 in China and the U.S.
each, one in Denmark, and one in Singapore.
Fourth Int'l Scientific and Technological Book
Exhibition to Be Held
Pyongyang, September 1 (KCNA) -- The 4th
Pyongyang International Scientific and
Technological Book Exhibition will be held from
September 12 to 14. The exhibition will draw at
least 30 bodies of over 10 countries and an
international organization. Valuable scientific
and technological books and data in various
fields will be on display.
The exhibition will offer an important
opportunity of strengthening exchange and
cooperation in science and technology among
countries as it will reflect the requirements of
the age of science and technology, the IT age.
National Exhibition of Inventions and New
Technologies Closes
Pyongyang, September 2 (KCNA) -- The 8th
National Exhibition of Inventions and New
Technologies which had been open since July 22
closed. More than 5,000 items of at least 1,200
kinds of achievements in inventions and new
technologies were presented to the exhibition in
the forms of spot goods, model, video tape,
chart and so on. During the exhibition the work
to disseminate and generalize valuable
inventions and new technologies took place in
various forms and ways and tens of thousands of
working people from all walks of life visited
it. And technological exchange and circulation
of hundreds of new intellectual products were
carried out.
Korea Is an IT Power Only by Name
By Choi Kyong-ae
Staff Reporter
Korea has a long way to go to become the ``world's leading information and
technology (IT) superpower'' as it is heavily dependent on foreign technologies
and equipment, Ahn Cheol-soo, CEO of AhnLab Inc., said Thursday.
Through his company's Web site (www.ahnlab.com), he reiterated on Wednesday
that Korea has helped multinational firms yield higher profitability, playing a
springboard for them.
National Exhibition of Scientific and
Technological Achievements Opens
Pyongyang, August 26 (KCNA) -- A national
exhibition of scientific and technological
achievements of youth and students opened
Wednesday on the occasion of the Youth Day. On
display there are programs, products, visual
aids, models, etc. representing at least 1,100
successful inventions and new technological
innovation proposals including over 500 valuable
IT products.
Among them are calculating programs and multi-
media programs and various other programs
helpful to the scientific, technological and
educational progress in the country and the
entertainment for the people.
Efficacious Tetrodocain Injection
Pyongyang, August 26 (KCNA) -- The tetrodocain
injection produced by the Korea Jangsaeng Joint
Venture Company is drawing attention of people
for its mysterious efficacy. Choe Hui Gyong, a
section chief of the company, told that
tetrodocain has proved highly efficacious for
various kinds of chronic diseases through
clinical trials over the last few decades. The
demand for it is ever increasing, he said.
When it is applied, anesthesia comes quickly and
lasts long. It has no after-effect.
It is efficacious for pain from cancer of the
last stage, contusion, neuralgia, rheumatic
arthritis, geriatric diseases, malignant
influenza, bronchial asthma, bronchial
inflammation, pneumonia, pharyngitis, splenitis
and respiratory diseases. It is also good for
the treatment of nose, pharynx, gullet and other
cancers.
Its efficacy is 80 percent.
The injection can be used as anti-virus and anti-
tuberculosis medicine to kill viruses in organic
body including AIDS and SARC.
It also helps detoxicates narcotic poisoning.
Pyeongyang phones on blink, or are they?
Contradictory reports on telephone communication
disruptions at foreign missions and
international organizations in Pyeongyang have
surfaced. Russia's Itar-Tass News Agency
reported that foreign organizations in the North
Korean capital were unable to make local calls,
but UN agency officials said they have suffered
no inconveniences.
Foreign missions and international organizations
have faced disruptions in their operations
because of telephone failures since Tuesday, the
Russian wire service said. International and
long-distance services have reportedly been
working at those institutions.
Radio Free Asia, however, reported yesterday
that other foreign officials have experienced no
inconveniences. The World Health Organization's
representative in Pyeongyang told the station
"no special problems" had occurred.
Fifth National Programming Competition in
Educational Field
Pyongyang, August 25 (KCNA) - The 5th National
Programming Competition in the Education Field
took place in Pyongyang from Aug. 19 to 24.
Participating in the competition were over 300
students and pupils who had been rated high in
the provincial competitions.
The competition involved preliminary contests
and finals, divided into 6 groups such as
university, college and provincial, city and
county (district) middle schools no.1 and middle
schools. And there were held special skill
contests with the participation of students of
10 universities highly appraised in the
competition last year and middle school pupils
who took the first 10 places in the finals this
time.
The competition put forward questions in
programming that represented the appearance of
education in the DPRK developing in depth as
required by the IT era and world-level IT.
N.K. Churns Out Computers with Pentium IV Chips
[Yonhap,Aug.25th]
North Korea has mass-produced computers with Pentium IV processors since 2002, a Russian journalist confirmed in her new book. The confirmation came at a time when the United States and North Korea are in a war of nerves over U.S. and international export control regulations that would ban 15 South Korean firms selected to operate in an industrial complex in the North's city of Kaesong from bringing in "strategic materials," including computers.
The South Korean companies said they must be permitted to bring computers with at least Pentium IV chips, which are essential for normal office work, citing earlier unconfirmed reports that the North already began to produce those kinds of computers. "North Korea has produced computers with Pentium IV processors since 2002, which I saw during my visit to an electric appliance factory in Pyongyang," Olga P. Maltseva, a Vladivostok-based journalist, said in her new book about the North Korean leader.
The Korean translation of the book, titled "A Waltz with Kim Jong Il" was published here on Monday. "Seven hundred workers and technicians made 14,000 Pentium IV computers in 2002," she said. "The factory has produced tens of thousands of computers since 1986 and half of them were exported to Germany." There was a similar report by the Choson Sinbo, organ of the pro-Pyongyang General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, in May last year.
The newspaper reported at the time that a North Korean electronic appliance developer has been selling computers with Pentium IV processors in a joint venture with China's Nanjing Panda Electronics Co. since September 2002. South Korea's Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) confirmed the report in August last year, citing data from its North Korean counterpart, the International Trade Promotion Committee.
The KOTRA said the North's electronics firm "Achim (Morning)" and China's Nanjing Panda have produced three types of Pentium IV computers. The Russian author is believed to have visited the joint venture factory. North Korea is classified as a "dangerous country" under the Wassenaar Arrangement, which replaced the Cold War era's Coordinating Committee for Export Control to Communist Areas in 1996, and thus signatory countries cannot export items classified as "strategic materials" to the communist state.
The items include computers, various metal machinery, laser equipment, high-tech materials and electronic appliances with U.S.-produced parts. South Korea is among the 33 signatory nations. An earlier report said the South Korean government is studying ways for the 15 domestic companies to use production equipment, materials and office supplies in Kaesong without conflicts with the U.S.
The Kaesong industrial complex, being built by the Korea Land Corp. and Hyundai Asan Corp., a South Korea firm, is one of the most prominent symbols of inter-Korean reconciliation set in motion by the first-ever summit of the leaders of the two countries in 2000. The developers are scheduled to open Kaesong's main complex to hundreds of South Korean manufacturers in the first half of next year.
[Sanctions]
National Exhibition of Inventions and New
Technologies Goes On
Pyongyang, August 13 (KCNA) -- The 8th National
Exhibition of Inventions and New Technologies is
going on successfully at the Three-Revolution
Exhibition in Pyongyang. The more than 1,000
exhibits displayed there are drawing attention
of visitors including scientists and technicians
for their great scientific and technical value.
Among them are a mobile air plasma cutter,
nickelchrome-nickelsilicon thermocouple K and
micro-welder for solar battery. The mobile air
plasma cutter can cut metal material 30 mm thick
at maximum.
Dear Leader Joins Cyworld?
By Seo Dong-shin
Staff Reporter
``Guys, I really don't go for nuclear
programs,'' reads the title of one posting on
the message board of North Korean leader Kim
Jong-il's homepage. One cannot but begin to
think that this is too good to be true.
The doubt is justified; the homepage of Kim Jong-
il is a pure fake. In the form of a ``Mini
Homepage,'' a blog Web page provided by the
popular cyworld.nate.com, the page is the
creation of two cyber jokers.
Korea's Online Population Tops 30 Million
By Kim Tae-gyu
Staff Reporter
The number of Koreans who regularly use the Internet surpassed the 30 million
milestone last month, 10 years after the Internet was commercially launched
here.[South Korea]
The KUT/SU Research Collaboration
Project Status Report: July 2004
Project Overview
Syracuse University (SU), with participation and counsel from The Korea Society (TKS), began discussions in late spring 2001 with Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) UN Mission representatives, which led in March 2002 to the establishment of bilateral research collaborations with Kim Chaek University of Technology (KUT), Pyongyang in the general area of integrated information technology. KUT is one of the two comprehensive universities in the DPRK and has engineering and technology as its focus.
Animal Growth Accelerant
Pyongyang, August 4 (KCNA) -- The Faculty of
Life Science of Kim Il Sung University has
developed a new kind of growth accelerant for
animals. The newly developed accelerant is
considered to be better than other kinds.
It is made of raw materials abundant in the
country and its production processes are
comparatively simple, so its production cost is
very low.
Its acceleration rate is 10-15 percent higher
than other kinds.
It accelerates the growth of animals with a less
amount of feed and helps raise their resistance
to cold.
It can be easily applied to all livestock.
All the elements of the accelerant, with no
poisonous effect, are completely dissolved and
absorbed in animal body.
It has already been applied to chicken, duck and
other stock farms.
"Naenara", Operated by the KCC, Supplies Various Types of Information About North Korea
[North Korea Team, KOTRA]
The Hankook Ilbo in the United States reported on July 21, 2004, that the internet potal site "Naenara", operated by the KCC (Korea Computer Center), started to sevice its trial operation since June.
The site, which has a server in Berlin, Germany, consists of a menu of policy, tourism, trade, art, publishing and history, as well as, suppling services about electric items shops, movies and the music of North Korea.
The main reason of the site's ability to attract people's eye is its complete contents of each menu and a means of investment for foreigners, management of foreign money, penalty rules in the Rason Free Economic Trade Zone, 38 foreign economic rules, along with the directory introducing addresses, telephone numbers, fax numbers, major export & import products of 201 trading companies that include the Korea Unha General Trading Corporation, the Korea Sunbong Trading Corporation and the Pyongyang Women's Trading & Garment Center.
The e-mail domain of Naenara is "@kcckp.net" and only registered members can look into the site. The KCC was established in 1990 as a center of Information & Technology Industry for N. Korea and it has 8 immediate centers and regional centers within 11 states.
The "Naenara" is reported to be established by the KCC Naenara Information Center, which is a professional website making organization in North Korea. Meanwhile, North Korea has managed an e-mail exchange business ("@silibank.com") between Pyongyang and the third world countries via an exclusive line of the "Silibank" since last year, 2003.
* Source: The Hankook Il-bo in United States Edition, on July 21
(July 27, 2004 KOTRA-North Korea Team, Koo Kyung-hee, Tel: 82-2-3460-7423)
North Korea Collects Scientific Information Through Overseas Korean Residents
[San Francisco, KOTRA]
According to one executive from the CIA, North Korea has been collecting science technology information from North Korean residing abroad.
Steven Mercado, director of the science technology department of the CIA, said in an article of the CIA science periodical, the ¡°North Korean and the Internet,¡± that North Korea has been gathering information through pro-NK overseas Korean residents while the country¡¯s main channel for such information sources is from the Internet. And, he presented an example excerpted from the homepage of the KAST, which is a science technology organization under the Chochongyon (the Pro-Pyongyang Federation of Korean Residents in Japan).
On the KAST homepage, it read that in the past, information could be collected by visiting the national assembly library, the patent office or a university library, however, that costs a lot of time, as well as, money because of printing copies. These days, scientific technology theses can be gathered and downloaded via the Internet.
Director Mercado also said that the Internet makes it possible for North Korea to improve their collection of overseas information, plus, activate information distribution within North Korea. In addition, he mentioned that it is ironic that an open information source has helped the survival and development of the most exclusive regime in the world.
* Source : The US edition of the Hankook Il-bo
(July 20, 2004 KOTRA-North Korea Team, Koo Kyung-hee, Tel: 82-2-3460-7423)
National Exhibition of Invention and New
Technology Goes On Successfully
Pyongyang, August 2 (KCNA) -- The 8th National
Exhibition of Invention and New Technology is
going on successfully at the Three-Revolution
Exhibition in Pyongyang, visited by a large
number of people including technicians and
experts. The exhibition, which opened on July
22, will continue until August 15. On display at
the exhibition are real things, models, diagrams
and CDs showing more than a thousand inventions
and new technologies developed by scientists,
technicians and other working people of 40-odd
ministries and national institutions, and their
affiliated organizations and enterprises.
8th National Exhibition of Invention and New
Technology Opens
Pyongyang, July 23 (KCNA) -- The 8th National
Exhibition of Invention and New Technology
opened at the Three-Revolution Exhibition
Thursday. On display in the form of real thing,
model, video recording, diagram and so forth are
over 1,000 pieces of invention and new
technology achieved by scientists, technicians,
officials and working people across the country
in their efforts to develop the nation's science
and technology.
While the exhibition is open there will be a
work for the dissemination and generalization of
worthy items of invention and new technology in
the form of scientific and technological
presentation, short course, etc. and diverse
information services including the introduction
of exhibits through information service networks.
North Korea Operates Internet Portal Site
[Yonhap,Jul.14th]
North Korea was found on Wednesday to be
operating its first Internet portal site to sell
merchandise and propagandize its socialist
system to the rest of the world. The existence
of the portal site became known when the July
issue of "Korea," a monthly photo journal issued
by a sub-organization of the North Korean
Workers' Party, carried an advertisement.
It said Pyongyang's state-run Korea Computer
Center began providing information service
through its homepage named "Nanara"
(www.kcckp.net) in June.
GNP Suspects NK in Cyber Attacks
By Park Song-wu
Staff Reporter
Kim Hyong-o, secretary general of the opposition
Grand National Party (GNP), raised a suspicion
on Friday that North Korea's hacking unit could
be involved in the recent cyber attacks against
public institutions in South Korea.
National ICM Training Center Opens
Pyongyang, July 15 (KCNA) -- The National
Training Center on Integrated Coastal Management
was opened. The centre, furnished with
educational equipment for operation with the
cooperation of the PEMSEA regional programme of
the International Maritime Organization, will
train experts for the national integrated
coastal management.
NK Hands Suspected in Cyberattacks
By Park Song-wu
Staff Reporter
A top military intelligence agency in Seoul on
Thursday indicated the possibility that North
Korea's hacking unit was involved in the recent
cyber attacks by hackers into networks of the
South Korea government.
The allegation of the North's involvement was
brought up a day after the National Intelligence
Service (NIS) confirmed the identities of
Chinese hackers who were suspected of attacking
the computers within 10 government agencies in
South Korea.
NK Opens Internet Portal Site
By Kim Tae-gyu
Staff Reporter
North Korea continues to open its electronic
borders as it launched a portal site in June,
two and a half years after it started e-mail
services.
A North Korean monthly, Chosun, said in its
latest edition that the state-controlled Korea
Computer Center started to test run a portal
site, titled Naenara (www.kcckp.net) from June.
The word ``naenara'' means my country in Korean.
According to Whois, an international domain
registration service provider, the site was
registered on May 28 and its server is based on
Berlin, Germany.
The National Assembly is currently mulling over
allowing South Koreans to access North Korean
Web sites without needing prior permits from the
government. [human rights] [National Security Law]
Young People Active for Scientific Development
Pyongyang, July 14 (KCNA) -- In the Democratic
People's Republic of Korea young scientists
account for 76.5 percent of the holders of
academic degrees and titles who play a pivotal
role in the nation's scientific and technical
development. Leader Kim Jong Il set forth the
policy of giving importance to ideology, arms
and science.
Agency Suspects N.Korean Hands in Cyberattacks
By Park Song-wu
Staff Reporter
A top military intelligence agency in Seoul
Thursday indicated the possibility that North
Korea's hacking unit was involved in the recent
cyber attacks by hackers into networks of the
South Korea government.
The allegation of the North's involvement was
brought up a day after the National Intelligence
Service (NIS) confirmed the identities of
Chinese hackers who were suspected of attacking
the computers within 10 government agencies in
South Korea.
Animation Fest Turns Into Asia's Biggest
By Kim Tae-jong
Staff Reporter
An opportunity for local and international
animation directors to show off their wares, the
Seoul International Cartoon and Animation
Festival (SICAF) began back in 1997 as a fairly
modest event in both size and scope. Then last
year, the Seoul metropolitan government began
sponsoring the festival to boost the local
animation industry, and now SICAF has been
transformed into Asia's biggest animation event.
Feature animation films in the competition
section include ``Wanghu Simchong (Empress
Chung),'' a joint production of South and North
Koreas directed by Nelson Shin. The film is
based on a famous folk tale about a filial
daughter named Shim Chung who selflessly attends
to her blind father. [Joint venture]
Entrepreneur Brings e-Commerce to North Korea
[Yonhap,May.31th]
A South Korean entrepreneur has brought e-commerce to North Korea by launching a Web site that enables consumers in the South to shop for cheap agricultural products from the communist country. Given North Korea's poor track record in keeping business deals with outsiders, the project certainly involves some risk. But after just a couple of months, there are signs that it might hit the jackpot.
Hyun Sung-joo, 48, the Seoul-based trader who launched the project, said it is the first time South Korean consumers have direct access to North Korean suppliers. "We have signed contracts with three North Korean companies, and we have a vision of developing the site into a trusted e-business service," said Hyun, who once worked for a civic advocacy group.
Hyun said the three North Korean firms -- Kwangmyongsung General Corp., Samcholli General Corp. and Gaesun Trading Corp. -- upload to his Web site the prices and relevant information for the products they want to sell. The venture has the backing of a Seoul government eager to expand exchanges with the North. The government, however, keeps close tabs on all exchanges with the North, which is labeled an enemy state under the country's anti-communist national security law.
Cell Phone Service in North Korea
North Korean authorities have recently begun
allowing foreigners living in Pyongyang, the
North's capital, to use cell phones, a Japanese
newspaper reported Saturday.
Citing North Korean sources in Beijing, the
Tokyo Shimbun reported that mobile phone use in
the communist state has been available since
2002, but limited due to the North's concerns
about the leaking of news or information out of
the country.
The paper said a Pyongyang-based foreigner
recently applied for mobile phone service for
980 euros. The charge for a one-minute call is
0.7 euro, and the rate for receiving calls is
0.2 euro.
Army reveals existence of cyber commandos
The Defense Security Command, the military unit
responsible for overseeing the army's internal
affairs and for counter-espionage, has been
operating a specialized unit designed to combat
potential cyber attacks from North Korea.
According to Lieutenant-general Song Young-keun,
who commands the Defense Security Command, North
Korea operates a special cyber warfare unit.
Optical Cables to Link S-N Communications Networks
By Ryu Jin
Staff Reporter
South and North Korea have agreed to connect their communications networks via optical-fiber cables running beneath the demilitarized zone (DMZ) and the military demarcation line (MDL) within months, officials said on Sunday.
Artificial Intelligence Program Developed
Pyongyang, May 20 (KCNA) -- The Academy of Koryo
Medical Science of the Democratic People's
Republic of Korea has developed an artificial
intelligence computer program "Koryo Medicine".
It has been introduced to clinical practice. The
program helps cure such incurable and chronic
diseases as diabetes, impotence, chronic
bronchial asthma, hypertension, liver cirrhosis
and hematologic disorders. The accuracy of
diagnosis by the program and the rate of
treatment according to it are very high.
New Drug for Angina Pectoris Developed
Pyongyang, May 17 (KCNA) -- A drug to treat
angina pectoris, which has been regarded as an
incurable disease in the world, has been
developed in the Democratic People's Republic of
Korea. It is Astragalus Drug for Angina Pectoris
developed by Ri Song Suk, a section chief of the
Academy of Koryo Medical Science. Its
ingredients are astragalus and other natural
Koryo medicinal materials.
DPRK Software Arbitration Committee Formed
Pyongyang, May 15 (KCNA) -- The DPRK Software
Arbitration Committee was inaugurated. It is an
independent non-permanent non-governmental
organization which specializes in settling
disputes in trade, investment and service in the
software field between organs, enterprises,
organizations and citizens of the DPRK and
foreign enterprises, foreign-invested
enterprises, overseas compatriots and
foreigners. It will also settle disputes related
to the infringement upon the copyright of
software.
National Medical Science and Technology Festival
Held
Pyongyang, May 13 (KCNA) -- The 4th national
medical science and technology festival was held
here from May 10 to 12. The festival was divided
into branches of sanitary and anti-epidemic
science, basic medical science, internal
medicine, surgery, Koryo medicine and
pharmacology.
Establishment of Fair International Information Order Called for
Pyongyang, May 7 (KCNA) -- The activities of the UN Department of Public Information should contribute to narrowing down the gap between the developing countries and the developed countries and establishing a fair international information order, said a DPRK delegate at the 26th meeting of the UN Information Committee on April 28. The gap between the developing countries and the developed countries in the field of information is widening as information and communication technology vividly reflects the unfair international economic relations, he noted, and continued
Banned cell phones help greatly in relief work
DANDONG, China ? South Korea's cell phone
exports to China are secretly playing a vital
role in the relief efforts after the explosion
in Yongcheon, North Korea.
On Friday, a Korean-Chinese trader coordinating
the delivery from here to Yongcheon of relief
goods sent by South Korean civic groups could be
seen making call after call on his cell phone to
government officials in the border city of
Sinuiju, North Korea.
Even though most relief workers from all over
the world have not been able to see the disaster
site personally, it has been possible for aid
officials to keep up to date with the situation
in Yongcheon fairly well from this northeastern
Chinese city. The reason is the cell phones that
members of North Korea's Foreign Trade Ministry
and security agency carry. In fact, in this
city, where as many as 1,000 people daily cross
the Yalu River to trade goods, it is not
difficult to see North Koreans, with a badge
bearing a picture of their late leader Kim Il
Sung on their breasts, carrying cell phones.
Most of the cell phones used by North Korean
officials were provided to them by Chinese and
Korean-Chinese traders before the Yongcheon
explosion to make it easier for them to gather
information about the business situation in
North Korea. Not only did they provide the
phones, but they also took care of the usage
fee, which is roughly 30 won (2.5 cents) per
minute. "I pay the fees of six phones," said a
Korean-Chinese trader who asked to be identified
only as Mr. Kim. "There are at least 1,000 cell
phone users in the North Korean city," he added,
referring to Sinuiju, across the border from
here.
Most North Korean users prefer the South Korean
mobile phones provided by the traders rather
than the cheaper Chinese models. They say that
South Korea's models are of better quality and
are less affected by the jamming that North
Korean authorities attempt. There are two cell
networks in China near the border; the CDMA
system as used in South Korea has a range of
about 30 kilometers (18 miles) compared with the
15-kilometer range of a GSM cell phone, the
system used widely in Europe.
19th National Scientific and Technological
Festival Opens
Pyongyang, May 5 (KCNA) -- The 19th national
scientific and technological festival opened. On
display are more than 400 papers, diagrams and
CDs on the valuable successes in scientific
researches and technological innovation drive
highly appreciated at the festivals in different
provinces in the wake of similar festivals that
took place at institutions, enterprises and in
cities and counties from early January to the
end of February.
NK to Open Online Shopping Mall
North Korea is expected to launch an online shopping mall soon, the Unification
Ministry said on Thursday.
According to ministry officials, the Korea Computer Center (KCC), the North's
information technology (IT) organization, is planning to set up an Internet
shopping mall named ``Naenara,'' meaning ``our nation.''
KCC has been engaged in installing Web sites for the North's organizations for
the past three years, a monthly publication affiliated with an association of
Koreans residing in Japan said in its May edition.
It was not immediately known what trade the North Korean shopping mall will be
engaged in.
Ministry officials said that the North has established Web sites for more than
50 government organizations and trade-related organizations since 2000.
Significantly, Pyongyang is stepping up efforts to connect them with each other
in an ``intranet'' format, the officials said.
At the same time, the North is stepping up efforts to take advantage of foreign
Internet servers to expand its network of commercially viable Web sites in
order to gain hard currency from overseas, they said.
``Based on the latest reports, the North is trying to make online trade
possible,'' a ministry official said.
However, he predicted that the North's online trade would be focused on
organization-to-organization deals in order to help them secure necessary goods
rather than deals between individuals.
N. Korean Leader Eyes Tech Base at Mount Geumgang
M A Cho 21 April 2004
[Yonhap,Apr.20th]
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il is seeking to build a high-tech industrial complex at a mountain resort on the country's southeast coast, a Hyundai executive claimed Tuesday. "What Kim wants is to construct a state-of-the-art industrial complex like the U.S. Silicon Valley at Mount Geumgang," Kim Yoon-kyu, president of Hyundai Asan Corp., said.
"Such a plan is contained in the inter-Korean agreement on economic cooperation, so the two Koreas should speed up technological exchange," Kim said in speech to a forum on high technology.
[Kumgangsan] [SEZ]
North Korea Established a Software-Developing Company in Shenyang
M A Cho 14 April 2004
Having established the ?orea 6?5 Service Office in Shenyang,?a specialized software developer, in Shenyang, Liaoning Province, China, North Korea started its official operation from March 26, 2004.
As the first computer software producer established in Shenyang by North Korea, with the full support from their home office, ?orea 6?5 Editing Corporation,?the software company will not only take charge of developing systems, programs for the printed media, set-up programs, but they will as well make various custom-tailored advertisements.
The company will also advertise the North Korean society via its Homepage and electronic publishing service.
The superintendent of the ?orea 6?5 Service Office in Shenyang?announced that it will provide excellent software that satisfies the demand from Chinese consumers with competitive prices
Source : Liaoning Korea Daily on March 30
"Netizens" in Pyongyang Have Online Debate in
Chatting Room
Inquiring New Generation Deepen Their Contacts
Through Expanding Computer Networks
PYONGYANG: Computer networks are expanding nationwide in the DPRK. "Netizens" in Pyongyang nowadays enjoy chatting online. What are they talking about? The People's Korea met two university students about their cyber life.
At midnight, Cho Jung Hyun, 19, a student of Kim Il Sung University, sits down at a laptop and meets "netizens" on the web. This has been his routine since he entered the university.
Cho Jung Hyun enjoys online debate with university students.
First of all, he accesses computer networks and browses websites operated by the Korea Computer Center, the People's Study Grand Palace and so on. After he gets "new information" from a website, he enters its "Chatting room." His name on the website is "Schumann." He loves Schumann's piano music.
"There are various topics discussed in chatting rooms, and I often search for topics about computer programs. A few days ago, I had an interesting online discussion with a student of Kim Chek Technical University," he said.
He is a second year student of the Computer Science University of Kim Il Sung University. He had had no acquaintance before in Kim Chek Technical University.
The computer networks which are rapidly expanding in Pyongyang is stimulating the motivation and aspirations of the younger generation who will lead in the development of the country's economy and science in the future.
Scientific and Technological Prize-Awarding
Ceremony Held
Pyongyang, March 24 (KCNA) -- The DPRK Cabinet
decided to award from this year the "February 16
Scientific and Technological Prize," the highest
one in the field of science and technology in
the DPRK, to scientists and technicians who made
distinguished contributions to the development
of science and technology and the economy of the
country and the improvement of the standard of
the people's living,
World Meteorological Day
Referring to the yellow dust phenomena which had
been seen as acute ecological and environmental
problems in Korea and neighboring countries in
recent years, adversely affecting weather and
climate, he said:
The DPRK government has established a system of
closely watching and properly forecasting such
phenomena to minimize damage caused by them as
much as possible.
Meanwhile, large and small waterway projects and
river improvement projects have been pushed
ahead dynamically under the government policy of
preserving water resources and making an
effective use of them.
The DPRK will steadily expand contacts and
cooperation with international organizations
including the World Meteorological Organization
and many scientific research centers in the
field of hydrometeorology.
Bilateral Research Collaboration Between Kim Chaek University of Technology and Syracuse University in Integrated Information Technology
prepared for Asian Studies on the Pacific Coast (ASPAC), 2003.
Collaborators
Kim Chaek University of Technology: Sin Thae Song and Kim Hak Su
Syracuse University: Stuart Thorson and Thomas Harblin
The Korea Society: Donald Gregg and Frederick Carriere
DPRK Mission to the UN: Han Song Ryol and An Song Nam
Abstract
The paper provides an overview and progress report for the ongoing bilateral research collaboration between Kim Chaek University of Technology (KUT) and Syracuse University (SU) in the area of integrated information technology. The program involves researchable questions which can be investigated jointly between researchers at KUT and those at SU within the general theme of systems assurance (including digital libraries, machine translation, and decision support). Thus far the KUT research team has visited SU three times and the SU team has been to KUT once. The paper discusses the process by which the collaboration developed as well as some of the benefits and challenges which flow from university-university programs between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and United States (US) institutions.
Alert Heightened on Cyber Terror
Following Impeachment of President Roh
By Kim Tae-gyu
Staff Reporter
In the wake of the unprecedented impeachment of President Roh Moo-hyun, Korea's
public and private sectors are cooperating to prevent any possible cyber
terrorism from causing further turmoil.
The Ministry of Information and Communication (MIC) on Monday said it keeps a
watchful eye on telecom networks and Internet traffic to anticipate and deal
with electronic vandalism by disgruntled hackers.
Mobile Broadcasting
Satellite Launched Successfully
By Kim Tae-gyu
Staff Reporter
The world's first digital multimedia broadcasting (DMB) satellite, co-owned by
Korean and Japanese telecom firms, was successfully launched on Saturday at the
Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Internet Access Available at More N. Korean Trading Companies
North Korea, one of the most reclusive countries in the world, has allowed its trading companies, foreign embassies and international organizations there to access the Internet, an official who is engaged in inter-Korean business said Tuesday.
It has so far been known that Jupae, a North Korean company that operates an online gambling Web site, was the only firm allowed to use the Internet. According to the official, who asked not to be named, at least five state-run trading companies have permission to use the Internet, a rare case for the North, which still uses an Intranet that cannot be accessed from outside because of a firewall fending off unauthorized access.
North Koreans send and receive e-mail via a server operated by China-based Silibank. Buknam Corporation, a South Korean firm that imports and sells North Korean products here, said recently that its officials have exchanged information on the products with its North Korean trading partner over an Internet-based messenger program.
Internet connections at some foreign organizations in Pyongyang, including the Russian Embassy and an office of the United Nations Development Program, have been available since late last year, the official said.
N. Korea to Nurture High-Tech Experts, Unification Ministry Says
North Korea is concentrating its efforts on developing experts in such fields as information technology, nanotechnology and biotechnology, South Korea's Unification Ministry said Monday.
The reclusive country is sending students to China, Russia and European Union nations, apparently to learn about technology, the ministry said in its weekly report on the North.
Korea Tops Internet Usage Rate
By Kim Tae-gyu
Staff Reporter
About two-thirds of South Koreans use the Internet periodically, meaning the
nation has the world's top Internet usage rate.
NK Gambling Web Site Blocked
The online gambling site Jupae had provided an open bulletin board to Internet users, with more than 14,000 messages posted since May 2002, mostly by South Koreans who were excited by the fact that they could communicate with North Koreans.
Ten North Korean college graduates were allegedly had managed the bulletin board from their office in Pyongyang, answering curious South Koreans' questions even unrelated to their business.
``If the closure is to ban gambling, why does the government allow Koreans access to gambling Websites in the U.S. and other countries?'' a netizen asked.
SCO CLAIM REACHES $5 BILLION
[Sanctions]
David Becker, Staff Writer, CNET News.com
Published: February 8, 2004
Linux antagonist SCO Group is seeking to add $2 billion to its legal claim against computing giant IBM while changing the scope of the suit.
In an amended complaint submitted shortly before a hearing Friday in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City, SCO lists two new causes of action against IBM, both of which include claims for damages of at least $1 billion. The changes bring the total amount sought to about $5 billion. Damages previously had been set at $3 billion. ..//..
The case has since ballooned into a far-ranging attack on Linux, attracting legal attention from Linux companies Novell and Red Hat and the ire of Linux supporters worldwide.
..//..
With the amendment, the suit also includes new allegations that IBM violated its SCO contract by improperly exporting Unix software to India and countries subject to federal export controls, including Iran, North Korea and Cuba, echoing recent comments by SCO CEO Darl McBride that characterized the spread of Linux as a threat to national security.
Five most promising North Korean industries
The five brightest spots of the North Korean economy are software, used machinery, mining and small- and big-ticket consumer goods, the former head of a multinational's Pyongyang office said
Abt placed his greatest emphasis on the software and multimedia industries in North Korea and referred to the animation film "Asterix and Obelix," which recently opened in French theaters.
Most of the work was done in North Korea, a fact well illustrating the abundant supply of top animation experts there, Abt said
Local Firms to Operate in Pyongyang in March
The Inter-Korea Economic Association (IKEA) on Tuesday said it recently agreed with the North to move three or four small- and medium-sized firms into the Koryo IT Center in Pyongyang. It is the first phase of an inter-Korean project with a total of 20 firms expected to move into the complex by the end of the year.
Modernization of Communication Networks Promoted in DPRK
People using mobile phones on the street are often seen in Pyongyang recently. The DPRK has developed communication networks such as mobile phone and e-mail services since the 55th anniversary of National Foundation Day in September this year.
Now, mobile phone users have increased to over 20,000 in the DPRK. The number was only 3,000 people at the beginning of this year.
President-elect Roh Moo-hyun uses the Internet ..to extend his congratulations Friday during the opening ceremony for the office of citizen participation at transition committee headquarters, located at the Government Complex Annex building in downtown Seoul. [photo] [Roh
Moo-hyun][Internet]
