Skip to Main Content
Cyber Operations
book

Cyber Operations

by Jerry M. Couretas
April 2024
Intermediate to advanced content levelIntermediate to advanced
320 pages
8h 58m
English
Wiley
Content preview from Cyber Operations

7DPRK Cyber Operations

7.1 DPRK Cyber Operations

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), or North Korea, is a malicious cyber actor that uses cyber means to generate revenue and perform retribution attacks (e.g., 2014 Sony pictures). DPRK cyber operations are famous for the financial theft (e.g., 2016 Bangladesh Bank, 2017 WannaCry Ransomware attack, ongoing digital wallet attacks) that is used to support a developing nuclear weapons program, a key element to maintain the Kim Dynasty –

Kim almost certainly views nuclear weapons and ICBMs as the ultimate guarantor of his autocratic rule and has no intention of abandoning those programs, believing that over time he will gain international acceptance as a nuclear power. In 2022, Kim reinforced that position by testing multiple ICBMs intended to improve North Korea’s ability to strike the United States and revising his country’s nuclear law, underscoring the nuclear forces as the backbone of North Korea’s national defense.

(DNI, 2023)

The DPRK received technical and materiel support from other countries (i.e., China and Russia) since its inception in 1948, due to common politics and borders (Figure 7.1). These technical and training relationships, including cyber, continue to this day.

As shown in Figure 7.1, the DPRK borders on both China and Russia to the north, and South Korea on its southern border.

A map of North Korea. It displays the seas of Japan, Russia, China, South Korea, the Yellow Sea, and Japan.

Figure 7.1 ...

Become an O’Reilly member and get unlimited access to this title plus top books and audiobooks from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers, thousands of courses curated by job role, 150+ live events each month,
and much more.
Start your free trial

You might also like

Inside Cyber Warfare, 3rd Edition

Inside Cyber Warfare, 3rd Edition

Jeffrey Caruso
Cyber Threat Hunting

Cyber Threat Hunting

Nadhem AlFardan
Practical Cyber Intelligence

Practical Cyber Intelligence

Adam Tilmar Jakobsen

Publisher Resources

ISBN: 9781119712091Purchase Link