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- Jul 23, 2012
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A North Korean defector who once helped train Pyongyangs military hackers warned this week that the totalitarian regime is a major cybersecurity threat to the United States and other nations.
Kim Heung-gwang, a former professor at North Koreas Hamhung University of Computer Technology, a key training facility for the military, urged governments to do more to counter North Korean hacking.
North Korean hackers are targeting nuclear power plants, transportation networks, electrical utilities and all major government organizations abroad, he said.
If all of this happens, North Korea is going to destroy the basic units of civil society, and we need to react strongly to prevent this, Mr. Kim said, speaking through an interpreter. Concerning North Koreas cyberterrorism, only when the government is involved can this issue be solved.
The defector said North Koreas closest allies are Iran and Syria, fellow rogue states united in their opposition to the United States.
Mr. Kim was one of two North Korean escapees who spoke about their former lives in the Stalinist state during a meeting at Cheongshim University, about 30 miles northeast of Seoul. The meeting was part of a conference hosted by The Washington Times.
The second defector, Lee Na-kyung, fled North Korea in 2005 after her husband ran afoul of communist authorities for supplying rice to starving North Koreans during a famine in the early 2000s.
More than 3 million people died of hunger, Ms. Lee said, noting that her husband was charged with a crime after violating rules restricting the distribution of food.
The Lees were punished despite being part of the military-national security system. They escaped to China and eventually reached South Korea.
Mr. Kim, the computer technology professor, said a special group called Unit 121 is the Norths cyberwarfare organization. It is believed to have about 3,000 dedicated cyberwarfare specialists engaged in targeting and attacking foreign computer networks. Unit 121 is part of the Reconnaissance General Bureau, an intelligence and covert operations component of the Korean Peoples Army, as the North Korean military is known.
The North Koreans do not need a large force for cyberwarfare. All you need are a few really talented people, geniuses, and you can do a lot of damage, Mr. Kim said.
The cyberattack in November against Sony Pictures Entertainment bore all the hallmarks of a North Korean operation, including similarities to cyberattacks against South Korean banks and news media outlets in 2013, the defector said.
I saw a few signs and felt that it was North Korea, Mr. Kim said.
The National Security Agency has identified North Korea as being behind the Sony hack. The hackers stole valuable proprietary information and destroyed computer hard drives of the movie company. Adm. Michael S. Rogers, director of the National Security Agency, said analysis of software code used in theSony hack was traced to North Koreans, Reuters reported Feb. 19.
Mr. Kim said a special section within Unit 121 is devoted to cyberattacks against North American targets, including government and private-sector networks.
Source
Kim Heung-gwang, a former professor at North Koreas Hamhung University of Computer Technology, a key training facility for the military, urged governments to do more to counter North Korean hacking.
North Korean hackers are targeting nuclear power plants, transportation networks, electrical utilities and all major government organizations abroad, he said.
If all of this happens, North Korea is going to destroy the basic units of civil society, and we need to react strongly to prevent this, Mr. Kim said, speaking through an interpreter. Concerning North Koreas cyberterrorism, only when the government is involved can this issue be solved.
The defector said North Koreas closest allies are Iran and Syria, fellow rogue states united in their opposition to the United States.
Mr. Kim was one of two North Korean escapees who spoke about their former lives in the Stalinist state during a meeting at Cheongshim University, about 30 miles northeast of Seoul. The meeting was part of a conference hosted by The Washington Times.
The second defector, Lee Na-kyung, fled North Korea in 2005 after her husband ran afoul of communist authorities for supplying rice to starving North Koreans during a famine in the early 2000s.
More than 3 million people died of hunger, Ms. Lee said, noting that her husband was charged with a crime after violating rules restricting the distribution of food.
The Lees were punished despite being part of the military-national security system. They escaped to China and eventually reached South Korea.
Mr. Kim, the computer technology professor, said a special group called Unit 121 is the Norths cyberwarfare organization. It is believed to have about 3,000 dedicated cyberwarfare specialists engaged in targeting and attacking foreign computer networks. Unit 121 is part of the Reconnaissance General Bureau, an intelligence and covert operations component of the Korean Peoples Army, as the North Korean military is known.
The North Koreans do not need a large force for cyberwarfare. All you need are a few really talented people, geniuses, and you can do a lot of damage, Mr. Kim said.
The cyberattack in November against Sony Pictures Entertainment bore all the hallmarks of a North Korean operation, including similarities to cyberattacks against South Korean banks and news media outlets in 2013, the defector said.
I saw a few signs and felt that it was North Korea, Mr. Kim said.
The National Security Agency has identified North Korea as being behind the Sony hack. The hackers stole valuable proprietary information and destroyed computer hard drives of the movie company. Adm. Michael S. Rogers, director of the National Security Agency, said analysis of software code used in theSony hack was traced to North Koreans, Reuters reported Feb. 19.
Mr. Kim said a special section within Unit 121 is devoted to cyberattacks against North American targets, including government and private-sector networks.
Source
