Cyber-attacks add to North Korean
arsenal By Yong Kwon
Military history is full of breakthroughs
in technology that render existing forces obsolete
and turn the global balance of power. While the
overwhelming dominance of the United States armed
forces in this day and age makes it difficult to
imagine how anything could possibly alter the
dynamic of military power, even the American
military has areas of overdependence that could be
exploited.
The discovery of the computer
worm "Stuxnet" last July gave the international
community a glimpse of what the future of warfare
might look like. While the "Stuxnet" attack on
Iranian uranium-enrichment facilities may have
been the most audacious attempt to undermine a
state asset, the use computer worms to disrupt the
enemy has been in development and practice for
decades in other countries, including North Korea.
Given its singular focus on security,
North Korea has always been
interested in engaging in
asymmetrical warfare to balance the odds against
the US defense umbrella around South Korea. Acts
of sabotage and terrorism were preferred methods
during the 1980s, while bargaining with nuclear
weapons and missiles has been Pyongyang's chief
strategy since the 1990s. Now, the North seems
invested in further utilizing cyber-warfare in an
attempt to breach the increasingly expanding
discrepancies in economic and defensive
capabilities along the demilitarized zone that
separates it from South Korea.
South
Korea's minister of Public Administration and
Security, Maeng Hyeonggyu, announced on March 9
that a widespread denial-of-service attack has
been made on South Korean banking and government
institution websites. Although the attack was
mostly contained by state-sponsored anti-virus
programs, computer malware experts expressed
concern over its sheer magnitude.
A
similar attempt to sabotage government and
financial websites was made in 2009, but the
Ministry of Public Administration and Safety
reported that the attempt this month was seven
times stronger. [1]
While the
investigation teams have not yet verified the
perpetrators, in a follow-up report on North
Korean attempts to jam military global positioning
systems, South Korean Minister of Defense Kim
Gwanjin strongly insinuated that Pyongyang might
have been responsible for the malware attack.
Investigative teams from South Korea have traced
the origins of the 2009 hacking incident to a
Chinese Internet Protocol address, most likely
used by the North Korean government for
telecommunications.
Considering the scale
and the level of infiltration, the North Koreans
have clearly been preparing cyber-attacks for a
long time. According to testimonies by defectors
who had graduated from Mirim University in
Pyongyang (currently known as Automation
University), the North invited 25 computer experts
from Kyrgyzstan in 1986 with the sole purpose of
establishing a cyber-warfare program in North
Korea. Former students from Mirim University
attest that more than 100 hackers graduate from
the program at their alma mater ever year. Such
programs are also known to exist in several
branches of the North Korean military.
The
North's heavy investment in cyber-warfare became
increasingly evident when Kim Jong-il lauded the
work of hackers in 2005, stating that the use of
electronic warfare would dictate "victory or
defeat" in modern combat. [2] One defector from
the Electronic Warfare Unit of the Korean People's
Army suggested that more than 30,000 people in the
North Korean military may be engaged in various
acts of electronic sabotage, including foreign
webpage infiltration.
While these
cyber-attacks have been so far quickly and
efficiently contained by joint US and South Korean
efforts, the North Korean threat to US
cyber-security continues to grow. According to a
report by the South Korean military in June 2005,
the North's hackers had probably reached the same
level of sophistication as those employed by the
US Central Intelligence Agency. Furthermore, the
Agency for Defense Development concluded that the
hackers were skilled enough to launch a
cyber-attack on the US Pacific Fleet Command and
infiltrate the Pentagon's internal networks. [3]
Both the US and South Korean militaries
are woefully reliant on secure communications to
wage an effective conventional war. With the
increasing lethality of conventional arms and a
heavy dependence on aviation, effective
communication is the single-most valued asset in
any modern military. The deployment of drones,
guided missiles, artillery and even infantry units
all depends on the timely transmission of
information on secure networks. Therefore, the
threat posed by North Korean hackers is very real
and pertinent to the deterrent capability of the
US forces in East Asia.
The vulnerability
of the US communication lines have been
highlighted by the Chinese military as well. In
2007, the Chinese successfully tested an
anti-satellite missile, revealing a fatal flaw in
the US military's dependence on low-orbiting
satellites for communication, surveillance, and
weapons guidance systems.
Since the 1967
Outer Space Treaty only bans weapons of mass
destruction, China does not face any legal
repercussions for its test, nor for further
development of weapons that could seriously
undermine America's ability to effective command
its vast military forces spread around the world.
These new innovations reveal how quickly
military dominance can be challenged by the
application of new weapons or technology. There
remains no doubt that the combined forces of the
US military still remain the most powerful in he
world. Nonetheless, military history teaches us
that greater firepower, manpower or monetary
support do not necessarily always win wars - nor
guarantee a great power's place in the world
tomorrow.
Notes 1. Jo,
Uijun. "Minister Maeng Hyeonggyu: magnitude of
DDoS attack 7 times stronger." Chosun Ilbo. March
9, 2011. Online. 2. Ahn, Yonghyeon. "North
Korean Electronic Warfare Capabilities?" Chosun
Ilbo. March 7, 2011. Online. 3. "North Koran
hacking capabilities: CIA, Pentagon infiltration
is a basic skill." Sisa Seoul. October 21, 2005.
Online.
Yong Kwon is a
Washington-based analyst of international
affairs.
(Copyright 2011 Asia Times
Online (Holdings) Ltd. All rights reserved. Please
contact us about sales, syndication and
republishing.)
Head
Office: Unit B, 16/F, Li Dong Building, No. 9 Li Yuen Street East,
Central, Hong Kong Thailand Bureau:
11/13 Petchkasem Road, Hua Hin, Prachuab Kirikhan, Thailand 77110
