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North Korea's Political Environment Appears to Influence Cyberattacks, Experts Find

Solutionary has found an interesting connection between attacks and political decisions

Apr 26, 2013 11:04 GMT  ·  By
Number of attacks from North Korea increased considerably in February 2013
   Number of attacks from North Korea increased considerably in February 2013

The biggest cyber players in the world are usually named as being countries such as Russia, China and the United States. However, over the past month, the number of cyberattacks traced back to North Korea have also increased considerably.

Although the number of overt external attacks, data exfiltration attempts and reconnaissance ops are still low compared to the major players, according to security firm Solutionary, in February, the number increased by 8,445% compared to last year’s average.

Solutionary reveals that its ActiveGuard platform usually records between 34 and 200 attempts per month originating from North Korea against the company’s clients. However, in February, the number increased to 12,473.

Interestingly, this massive escalation coincided with North Korea’s announcement that it conducted an underground nuclear test.

Although it wasn’t as significant as this one, a similar escalation was recorded in November 2012. At the time, North Korea announced it was preparing a long-range missile, and the country replaced its defense minister with a hard-line general.

It’s also worth noting that in February 2012, 99% of the targeted organizations were from the financial sector. This is a significant increase if we consider the fact that between January 2012 and January 2013, just under 50% of the attacks were aimed at financial companies.

According to experts, this profile also continued last month, when North Korea was accused of launching attacks against South Korean financial institutions and broadcasters.

“Now, there is no evidence that any of this is supported or even encouraged by the North Korean government. But, there do appear to be several parallels between escalated verbal rhetoric and escalated cyberattacks,” explained Jon Heimerl, director of strategic security.

“t is evident that, whether government influenced or not, that the dual-path of aggression is a new way of facing the world, at least from North Korea. Given the more hard-line government in North Korea, we expect escalations like this to continue, and to become even more evident in other conflicts around the globe.”