11 July 2023

North Korea’s hackers are after intel, not just crypto


For a country that allows only a trusted few onto the internet, North Korea is a prolific troublemaker online. In 2005 Kim Jong Il, the country’s then dictator, said that “if the internet is like a gun, cyber-attacks are like atomic bombs.” His son, Kim Jong Un, took this observation to heart, not only studying computer science at university, but significantly expanding the country’s cyber-warfare capabilities after he assumed power in 2011. Its plundering of cryptocurrency—$1.7bn worth in 2022 alone—grabs headlines, but a new report suggests that North Korea uses its “all-purpose sword”, as the senior Kim once called his country’s cyber-attack capability, to seek information more than cash.

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