NOTRH KOREA, DAVID OF THE CYBER WORLD
Maj Gen P K Mallick, VSM (Retd)
In 2004 I went to deliver a talk and chair a session on Cyber War at College of
Defence Management, Secunderabad. After the session one of the participant
officers of Higher Defence Management Course who was doing his dissertation on a
relevant topic engaged me in a discussion that North Korea has no internet
connection and how do they do business. My answer that in today’s world no country
can afford to have complete disconnect seemed not to satisfy him. Of course Sony
happened later. Now Russia is providing them with internet connectivity when others
have blocked.
Here is a take on North Korea’s Cyber capabilities.
According to Kaspersky, the malware was the work of Lazarus, “an umbrella name
that typically describes hacking activity which advances Pyongyang’s interests”.
Frequently, senior political leaders, cyber security professionals, and diplomats
describe North Korean leaders or their respective actions as “crazy,” “erratic,” or “not
rational.” This is not the case. When examined through the lens of North Korean
military strategy, national goals, and security perceptions, cyber activities correspond
to their larger approach. North Korean cyber actors are not crazy or irrational: they
just have a wider operational scope than most other intelligence services.
And just as Western analysts once scoffed at the potential of the North’s nuclear
program, so did experts dismiss its cyber potential — only to now acknowledge that
hacking is an almost perfect weapon for a Pyongyang that is isolated and has little to
lose. The country’s primitive infrastructure is far less vulnerable to cyber retaliation.
North Korean hackers operate outside the country, anyway. Sanctions offer no
useful response, since a raft of sanctions are already imposed. And Mr. Kim’s
advisers are betting that no one will respond to a cyber attack with a military attack,
for fear of a catastrophic escalation between North and South Korea.
