During the Cold War military strategists often questioned the limits of the necessary defense: how much nuclear weapon is needed for the country to achieve a guaranteed destruction of a potential enemy? Perhaps the same question is being asked now in Pyongyang.
In the statements made by North Korean officials it is often emphasized how important it is not to look weak in the face of external provocation, especially from its historical opponents such as South Korea or United States. In this sense, military equipment and weapons tests regularly conducted by North Korea may pursue other purposes in addition to nuclear and any other weapons frightening. Thus, the North Korean leadership demonstrates the strength and ability to withstand external pressure.
Unfortunately, there are no signs that Pyongyang wants to start a meaningful dialogue with the U.S.: the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has shown no interest in the initiative for mutual hostile actions rejection.
Today a huge machine of state propaganda in the North is fully mobilized to prepare the population for war with the South. In addition, Washington's interference only pushes Pyongyang to accelerate its nuclear industry development. The most terrible thing is that each provocation only strengthens the North Korean determination and clearly demonstrates the desire and ability to resist the United States.
In addition to the nuclear threat from North Korea there is also a cyber threat. Authorities and mass-media of South Korea and the United States as well as numerous security experts from all over the world initiated giving Pyongyang the status of the main producer and supplier of cyber mass destruction weapons.
There are few proven facts about North Korean hackers. Experts attribute cyber-warfare to the military intelligence structures of Pyongyang where a special unit called Unit 121was supposedly created 20 years ago to fight external enemies.
The main condition under which it became possible to form a myth about Korean cyber-forces is the DPRK isolation. At the same time, the authorities seem to be happy to strengthen country’s fierce image: they do not actively deny any accusations and monitor the situation in the world mass-media with great interest. In turn, all the noise around “powerful hackers” provides the North Korean leadership the opportunity to enjoy its own greatness switching public's attention from hackers to a nuclear confrontation.
Some of the large-scale attacks attributed to the DPRK have now become part of the history: cyber-attack against Sony Pictures Entertainment which was held just before the release of “The Interview” movie in 2014, and the devastating WannaCry cyber-attack that enslaved 200,000 devices running on the Windows OS in 150 countries. The feature of the last attack was a ransom demand in bitcoins. Financial damage was assessed as US $1 billion. The Microsoft CLO Brad Smith “with a high degree of confidence” announced that the North Korea’s cyber-troops (also known as the Lazarus Group) stand behind WannaCry. At the same time, “cyber-instruments or cyber-weapons” used for the attack were stolen from the U.S. National Security Agency.
Despite the inability to accurately determine whether the Lazarus Group or the government of the DPRK has an attitude to WannaCry, these two phenomena are now inextricably linked to public opinion.
Despite the fact that this type of attack represents a relatively small security risk at the national level, no one excludes that in case of war the important infrastructure objects might be also attacked.
In the statements made by North Korean officials it is often emphasized how important it is not to look weak in the face of external provocation, especially from its historical opponents such as South Korea or United States. In this sense, military equipment and weapons tests regularly conducted by North Korea may pursue other purposes in addition to nuclear and any other weapons frightening. Thus, the North Korean leadership demonstrates the strength and ability to withstand external pressure.
Unfortunately, there are no signs that Pyongyang wants to start a meaningful dialogue with the U.S.: the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has shown no interest in the initiative for mutual hostile actions rejection.
Today a huge machine of state propaganda in the North is fully mobilized to prepare the population for war with the South. In addition, Washington's interference only pushes Pyongyang to accelerate its nuclear industry development. The most terrible thing is that each provocation only strengthens the North Korean determination and clearly demonstrates the desire and ability to resist the United States.
In addition to the nuclear threat from North Korea there is also a cyber threat. Authorities and mass-media of South Korea and the United States as well as numerous security experts from all over the world initiated giving Pyongyang the status of the main producer and supplier of cyber mass destruction weapons.
There are few proven facts about North Korean hackers. Experts attribute cyber-warfare to the military intelligence structures of Pyongyang where a special unit called Unit 121was supposedly created 20 years ago to fight external enemies.
The main condition under which it became possible to form a myth about Korean cyber-forces is the DPRK isolation. At the same time, the authorities seem to be happy to strengthen country’s fierce image: they do not actively deny any accusations and monitor the situation in the world mass-media with great interest. In turn, all the noise around “powerful hackers” provides the North Korean leadership the opportunity to enjoy its own greatness switching public's attention from hackers to a nuclear confrontation.
Some of the large-scale attacks attributed to the DPRK have now become part of the history: cyber-attack against Sony Pictures Entertainment which was held just before the release of “The Interview” movie in 2014, and the devastating WannaCry cyber-attack that enslaved 200,000 devices running on the Windows OS in 150 countries. The feature of the last attack was a ransom demand in bitcoins. Financial damage was assessed as US $1 billion. The Microsoft CLO Brad Smith “with a high degree of confidence” announced that the North Korea’s cyber-troops (also known as the Lazarus Group) stand behind WannaCry. At the same time, “cyber-instruments or cyber-weapons” used for the attack were stolen from the U.S. National Security Agency.
Despite the inability to accurately determine whether the Lazarus Group or the government of the DPRK has an attitude to WannaCry, these two phenomena are now inextricably linked to public opinion.
Despite the fact that this type of attack represents a relatively small security risk at the national level, no one excludes that in case of war the important infrastructure objects might be also attacked.
