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In North Korea, Hackers Are a Handpicked, Pampered Elite
HughPickens.com writes: Ju-Min Park and James Pearson report at Reuters that despite its poverty and isolation, North Korea has poured resources into a sophisticated cyber-warfare cell called Bureau 121, staffed by some of the most talented, and rewarded, people in North Korea, handpicked and trained from as young as 17. "They are handpicked," says Kim Heung-kwang, a former computer science professor in North Korea who defected to the South in 2004. "It is a great honor for them. It is a white-collar job there and people have fantasies about it." The hackers in Bureau 121 were among the 100 students who graduate from the University of Automation each year after five years of study. Over 2,500 apply for places at the university, which has a campus in Pyongyang, behind barbed wire.
According to Jang Se-yul, who studied with them at North Korea's military college for computer science, the Bureau 121 unit comprises about 1,800 cyber-warriors, and is considered the elite of the military. As well as having salaries far above the country's average, they are often gifted with good food, luxuries and even apartments. According to John Griasafi, this kind of treatment could be expected for those working in the elite Bureau. "You'd have to be pretty special and well trusted to even be allowed on email in North Korea so I have no doubt that they are treated well too." Pyongyang has active cyber-warfare capabilities, military and software security experts have said. In 2013, tens of thousands of computers were made to malfunction, disrupting work at banks and television broadcasters in South Korea. "In North Korea, it's called the Secret War," says Jang.
According to Jang Se-yul, who studied with them at North Korea's military college for computer science, the Bureau 121 unit comprises about 1,800 cyber-warriors, and is considered the elite of the military. As well as having salaries far above the country's average, they are often gifted with good food, luxuries and even apartments. According to John Griasafi, this kind of treatment could be expected for those working in the elite Bureau. "You'd have to be pretty special and well trusted to even be allowed on email in North Korea so I have no doubt that they are treated well too." Pyongyang has active cyber-warfare capabilities, military and software security experts have said. In 2013, tens of thousands of computers were made to malfunction, disrupting work at banks and television broadcasters in South Korea. "In North Korea, it's called the Secret War," says Jang.
>> In North Korea, Hackers Are a Handpicked, Pampered Elite
Which means $3K/year, 1600 calories a day?
An intelligence agency maybe?
"North Korea reports increased imports of Fedoras as legions of self-styled hackers flood the state to compete for tech jobs."
If you were me, you'd be good lookin'. - six string samurai
what a life, man.
This sounds no different from intelligence agencies in the western world. However, we're going to sensationalize it because it's happening in a country we don't like.
When you are an oppressed society like this, or communist in general, it is in your interest, and the benefit of your family, to work hard to make Dear Leader's country look good on an international stage.
The Eastern Bloc countries and the Soviet Union used to let Olympic athletes keep goodies from the West, like radios and blue jeans. If they brought home gold, especially in premier events like women's figure skating or pairs, that meant massively upgraded family apartments assigned to you, or even a resort dachau, like the higher ups get.
Can you imagine the hellish pressure on such young people?
This was a perverse aping of capitalism, but without any real economcic freedom.
There is a lot more to freedom than freedom of speech, if concern for the general welfare is your shining ideal. Give up on command and control.
(-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
1) Big win for South Korean IT departments - You can always blame any failures/problems on the elite North Korean hackers !
2) Big win for US security firms selling all kinds of 'Cyber Warfare' defence systems.
3) Just as likely to be bullshit propaganda (see point 1 and 2).
Time travel is possible. We are quickly heading for 1984.
Read that as University Of Automatons?
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
And free movies!
Um, can we as a world community, just cut the cables to N. Korea and then the only hacking they can do is internal to their country?
I don't see neckbeards in any of the approved styles, so I don't see how they can actually be elite.
http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/...
The Vietnamese had a general Gap, and England has a Watford Gap.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
they are often gifted with good food, luxuries and even apartments...
...because it's a nice change from the prison camps.
What this world is coming to - is for you and me to decide.
I hear it's a gas, but be decisive - once you've made a bookingwald it's difficult to auswitch.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
So, what are we going to do about the cyber-gap?
We already had nuclear weapon gap, bomber gap, and icbm gap.
The cyber gap is here.
They are called Reseachers dammit!
When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
Only the elite get food, water and power much less internet access.
"Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
So 1,800 "cyber-warriors" crash 48,000 machines. Or ... each "cyber-warrior" crashes 27 machines. Yeah. Big threat there.
And crashing 48,000 machines? What is "elite" about that?
This sounds less like "a sophisticated cyber-warfare cell" and more like a few script-kiddies. If you want to cause damage then you search for Excel files and you make a few, random changes to the numbers. Do the same with any database files you can find.
And, lastly, you NEVER crash a machine. You want to maintain control for as long as possible.
So, yeah, it reads like bullshit propaganda. It probably is.
How much do software engineers get ? 300k ?
What country are you from, and do they have an H1-B visa program?
I hear it's a gas, but be decisive - once you've made a bookingwald it's difficult to auswitch.
Jew makin some horrible puns. Anne Frank-ly, I don't appreciate them.
what about the Mine Shaft Gap?
We must not allow a mineshaft gap!
In every other country military hackers are just randomly chosen idiots!
Anyone notice how there has been an up-tick in North Korea related news in the past few weeks? Almost always about something that is not like western culture, or something the western folks should be concerned about... I've seen this on /., but also on traditional news and other digital news sites. It almost seems like someone somewhere is trying to sway public opinion to justify aggression against North Korea. I may seem paranoid, but I prefer to think of it as being disillusioned with mainstream media and the corporate/government interests promoting that the population should be scared, and that "someone" will take care of them. That "someone" being whomever is promoting the viewpoint of course....
The greatest reward is an old porn magazine, locked in a heavily guarded room, in and underground bunker, with three rows of barbered wire around it. After a year of service a young hacker is rewarded with 15 minutes of solitude inside.
Nah. It's in your interest to stay as much off the radar of the Dear Leader and his buddies radar as possible. The second one of them perceives you as a threat you and your family is up for disappearance.
They will go to great lengths to treat famous people well, because you can't disappear those discretely. Random nerds, not so much. One of these elite hackers will be killed the second the leaders perceive that person as a threat.
Actually, I believe the Vietnamese had a General Giap.
...
That's a play on 'Window Licker', isn't it...
... Sony was born in a goddam barn.
It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
The i is silent.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
Just a warning economic freedom does not mean personal freedom and in fact, the economic freedom to own and sell people is completely contradictory to personal freedom. Cconomic freedom is a complete and total lie based around denying people to freedom to access resources to survive and economically enslaving them under threat of starvation and killing or enslaving if the attempt to freely access those resources. Economic freedom is directly opposed to personal freedom. Truly believe in freedom, then do not attempt to deny people free access to the resources required to survive, the air the breathe, the water the drink, the fruit from the trees, the vegetables from the fields, the animals in the fields and, the fish in the waters, oh wait you need to be free to deny others their freedom because it is economically beneficial to do so.
Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
Please, stop saying that those countries are communist, communism is another thing, even URSS was not a communist society, those things are called dictatorship.
Communism is democracy on the hands of workers and peasants. When military or a single man owns all the powers of a nation this is not communism. They can use a state centralized economy, they can abolish private property but this is irrilevant to the concept of communism. Communism allow private property and its primary goal is not abolish freedom for the people (it's the opposite). It's a sad thing what happened to that idea.
Drop from this netblock
210.52.109.0 – 210.52.109.255 [24]
Man, those were my prime hacking years. If I was getting started that late, I wouldn't be any good until I was 30.
I started late as well (30 something) I was learning assemble language on the TRS-80 3, The AmigA while a great system stopped me cold (no programs, even the basic was very broken).
I tried to get my son to learn hacking or at the least assemble language he had no interest.
So tried hard, failed due to the system I was using.
Only a matter of time before these "elites" become liberalized to the truth of what's out in the real world. If they don't become double-agents online, eventually they will out-right obstruct and sabotage their own regime. Over time, an information cascade will occur among all forms of rank/file. That's when the regime is at its most vulnerable point and poised to collapse. AKA, a revolution.
Life is not for the lazy.
Until they walk into a barbershop.
"The average reporter we talk to is 27 years old......They literally know nothing." - Ben Rhodes