Australia Vulnerable to Korean Hacking Army

Nan writes "An army of more than 500 hackers hired by the North Korean military could find Australian businesses a "softer target" than their U.S. or European-based counterparts, according to security experts. The hacking army's mission is to break into South Korean, Japanese and American corporate networks to gather intelligence and steal trade secrets, according to reports."

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Re:This is nuts.

[metlin]

Because we are not them.

And it would be a scary precedent. If it's N Korea today, why couldn't it be China tomorrow?

And you would be harming whatever little percentage of people who use the Internet in N Korea, in the process. Besides, the Internet would be a source of access to the people of that country.

We all know how well sanctions work, right? It wouldn't make a difference. They're just trying to rake up a noise to garner attention.

Better that they say they'd hack into networks rather than say they'd launch a nuclear offensive.

Re:This is nuts.

[torpor]

yeah, coz you know, with that American Might you can just block the entire country of north korea from having internet access 'at the flick of a switch'.

dufus. the internet is everywhere. you can't block all the connections that a 500-man organized team of hackers can set up for themselves .. whatever country they're in, or from.

Money making algorithm !

[Anonymous Coward]

1. Create security firm in your neighborhood.
2. Write paranoid article in local journal.
3. Profit! ...err... it should work, shouldn't it?

Re:If its becoming more clear N Korea is hostile

[Richard_at_work]

What if NK peer with countries that wont do it on request? So are you going to cut off all the uncooperative countries that peer with NK? What about countries that peer with them (and so on down the chain until you find a cooperative country - and bang, you jsut lost a bigger chunk than you initially wanted)? What about NK using dialup in another country? What about NK agents in other countries?

Plus these 'reports' are from South Korea (as shown in the last /. story), and can be classed as unreliable imho.

Re:This is nuts.

[torpor]

"cut a few cables" .. uh huh.

look, all it takes is *ONE* connection to the internet, in safe harbour somewhere, and they're back on again.

just forget it. there's no way to 'cut them all off' from the 'net. its a preposterous idea.

the only solution is diplomacy. these people clearly think that their position is the right one; well, why is that? learn the answer to that question, and use diplomacy ...

Re:Just a hype, most likely

[replicant108]

Probably yet another of those notice us! notice us! type publicity stunt by N Korea.

Or perhaps a "notice us! notice us! type publicity stunt" by western security experts?

I note the article does not quote any North Korean sources

This story sounded like bullsh*t a week ago

[Peter Simpson]

...and it's getting riper. Sounds more like someone's trying to sell anti-hacker insurance. Personally, I'd be a lot more concerned about botnets than some alleged "security expert" warning about an "army of hackers" in some place he knows I can't check.

There. Thanks for letting me get that out.

I (heart) /.

[argStyopa]

3 posts and 2 are from the "I HATE AMERICA" crowd and have already been rated 5-interesting.

Don't you people ever sleep?

Every country practices espionage. EVERY country. The US, with its technical resources, has been very successful in the past in elint. The Soviets were particularly successful with their humint efforts.

I don't think anyone is saying the North Koreans don't have a 'right' to form their 'hackforce' (it's only leftists and liberals that talk about 'rights' in geopolitics anyway); I think the point is that their calling attention to it is the sort of attention-whoring that suggests that it's less a real exercise than cage-rattling.

With North Korea?

[HBI]

Learn history or be doomed to repeat it. This Stalinist state has been immune to diplomacy for the past 60 years. Nothing works. They have three world powers to play off against each other, and China has been shielding them to some extent since 1951.