Cyber warriors key asset in North Korean arsenal

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has reportedly strengthened the Hermit Nation's cyber warfare capability since his father's death in December 2011. Information technology security experts say cyber warfare is an attractive military and espionage option for North Korea because electronic attacks are difficult to trace and have the capacity to inflict widespread damage with a relatively low risk of retaliation. /Image via Reuters


The North Korean government has one of the strongest cyber warfare capabilities in the world, according to published reports over the past two years.

In June 2012, infosecisland.com reported:
- A North Korean defector revealed that the Hermit Nation had increased its cyber warfare personnel to 3,000 people
- Cyber warriors report directly to the country's top intelligence service, the General Reconnaissance Bureau
- U.S. Army Gen. James Thurman, commander of U.S. Forces in South Korea, believes North Korea is recruiting and forming highly skilled teams of hackers to engage in offensive cyber operations against hostile governments and conduct cyber espionage
- Lee Dong-hoon, a professor at the Korea University Graduate School of Information Security, ranks North Korea’s cyber warfare capabilities second only to Russia and the United States. "In North Korea, the state nurtures cyber (warfare) personnel to achieve military aims, and is capable of conducting various cyber attacks including denial of service and hacking," he said.
- In March 2011, a Pyongyang cyber warfare operation employed a South Korean operative to launch an electronic attack on computer systems at Incheon International Airport. The spy is accused of acquiring video games infected with malware from North Korean operatives during a trip to China

In May 2011, The Daily NK reported:
- A North Korean cyber warfare attack on Nonghyup Bank inflicted damage on "financial property of individual South Koreans"
- "It is possible and even likely that indiscriminate cyber attacks, which could cause more serious damage, may be launched in order to cause chaos in South Korean society. The reason for this is because the Internet is a much easier tool of attack" than more conventional military weapons
- A secret college North Korea formed in 1986 is churning out about 100 "world-class" hackers every year. Graduates are reportedly assigned as military officials at hacker units under the direction of the General Reconnaissance Bureau
- Pyongyang's cyber warriors are operating in China and other countries outside of the Korean peninsula to make it difficult to trace the true source of their electronic attacks
- Im Chae Ho, vice president of the KAIST Cyber Security Research Center in South Korea, told The Daily NK: "North Korea’s hackers apparently have ten times the strike capability of South Korea’s. North Korea is, furthermore, currently at a stage where it can directly attack South Korea's infrastructure through the use of cyber terrorism."