Cyber Warfare

[Dos Equis]

I heard some folks talk about how devastating cyber warfare can be.  Could disrupt communications and satellites, which could greatly affect our air superiority.  There is also an eyeopening exhibit in the International Spy Museum in D.C., which walks you through a large-scale cyber attack in the U.S.  Scary stuff. 

Watch out world: North Korea deep into cyber warfare, defector says
From Kyung Lah and Greg Botelho, CNN
Thu December 18, 2014

Seoul, South Korea (CNN) -- North Korea is one of the world's poorest countries, seen as well behind most everyone when it comes to most technologies and much more.

Hacking may not be one of them.

Scant resources or not, a defector who once worked as a computer expert for the North Korean government says that it has a vast network of hackers devoted to cyberwarfare against perceived enemies of the Stalinist state.

Jang Se-yul, who defected from North Korea seven years ago, told CNN that he thinks there are 1,800 cyberwarriors in the agency stationed around the world. But he says even the agents themselves don't know how many others work for the secretive group, called Bureau 121, whose mission is to "conduct cyberattacks against overseas and enemy states."

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The South Korean government thinks Bureau 121 is the agency at the heart of numerous cyberattacks from North Korea against elements in foreign countries, a government official who requested to be anonymous told CNN on Thursday.

North Korea's hacking capabilities have become a global talking point recently, after a massive hack of Sony Pictures -- the studio behind "The Interview," a comedy depicting the assassination of Pyongyang's leader, Kim Jong Un. That was followed by warnings that the movie not be shown in theaters, something that's a nonissue, for now, after Sony called off its planned release Wednesday.

U.S. investigators say an announcement blaming Pyongyang for this could come as soon as Thursday. North Korea's government has denied responsibility for the crippling hack, even as its state news agency applauded it.

"The hacking into the SONY Pictures might be a righteous deed of the supporters and sympathizers with the DPRK," KCNA reported.

Commenting generally on the North Korean government's hacking arsenal, Jang said he thinks the reclusive East Asian nation's cyberwarfare is more real and more dangerous than the regime's ability to launch a nuclear offensive -- even if it is the latter that has contributed to expansive sanctions, other penalties and the country's isolation on the world stage.

Said Jang, "This silent war -- the cyberwar -- has already begun without a single bullet fired."

'Dark Seoul' hacks of banks, media companies
Whether or not it's behind the Sony hack, South Korean intelligence thinks Bureau 121 has struck before, according to the government official.

South Korea has repeatedly accused the North of hacking attacks, including incidents in 2010 and 2012 that targeted banks and media organizations. Pyongyang has rejected the allegations.

The biggest case became known as "Dark Seoul," a series of hacks between March and June 2013 that targeted South Korean banks and media companies. More than 48,000 computers were hit, infecting the companies' computer networks with a malicious program, or malware, that slowed or shut down systems.

Seoul's military ratcheted up its cyber-alert level in response, and an official South Korean investigation later pinned the blame for this attack on its northern neighbor, finding that many of the malignant codes employed in the attacks were similar to ones used by Pyongyang previously, said Lee Seung-won, an official at the South Korean Science Ministry.

A spokesman for the general staff of North Korea's military called these allegations, which came at a time of heightened tensions between the two longtime rivals, "groundless" and "a deliberate provocation to push the situation on the Korean Peninsula to an extreme phase," according to KCNA.

Analyst: North Korea 'probably popping the champagne'
Assuming some of the allegations are well-founded, some might question how or why a country that's so poor, with so few resources, would devote so much to cyberwarfare.

Jang, who says he is still in contact with at least one of Bureau 121's members, says the answer is simple: "Raising cyberagents is fairly cheap."

"The world has the wrong view of the North Korean state," he adds. "With that incorrect world view, North Korea was able to increase its ability to launch cyberattacks."

Jang attended North Korea's military college for computer science, the University of Automation, and worked in information services for the government before defecting. He showed CNN reams of information he says was stolen by North Korean operatives from Bureau 121. The information taken from South Korean financial institutions, which Jang says he got from a Bureau 121 operation, appeared to list bank accounts, names and financial data.

The "Dark Seoul" hacks were harmful, but one analyst thinks that the Sony attack -- if it's indeed linked to North Korea -- represents an escalation of tactics.

"I think we underestimated North Korea's cybercapabilities," said Victor Cha, director of Asian studies at Georgetown University. "They certainly didn't evidence this sort of capability in the previous attacks."

He called the Sony hack, and the studio's decision to pull "The Interview," "a big win" for Pyongyang.

"They got the U.S. government to admit that North Korea was the source of this, and there's no (public) action plan ... in response to it," Cha said. "I think, from their perspective in Pyongyang, they're probably popping the champagne corks."

http://www.cnn.com/2014/12/18/world/asia/north-korea-hacker-network/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

[Dos Equis]

How rude.

DIA: North Korea Planned Attacks on US Nuclear Plants
Five commando units trained for strikes, sabotage     
BY: Bill Gertz    
December 18, 2014

North Korea dispatched covert commando teams to the United States in the 1990s to attack nuclear power plants and major cities in a conflict, according to a declassified Defense Intelligence Agency report.

The DIA report, dated Sept. 13, 2004, reveals that five units of covert commandos were trained for the attacks inside the country.

According to the report, the “Reconnaissance Bureau, North Korea, had agents in place to attack American nuclear power plants.”

The document states that the North Korean Ministry of People’s Armed Forces, the ministry in charge of the military, “established five liaison offices in the early 1990s, to train and infiltrate operatives into the United States to attack nuclear power plants and major cities in case of hostilities.”

“One of the driving forces behind the establishment of the units and infiltration of operatives was the slow progress in developing a multi-stage ballistic missile.”

North Korea is known to have at least two long-range missiles capable of hitting the United States, the Taepodong-2 intercontinental ballistic missile, and the KN-08 road-mobile ICBM, which has not yet been flight tested.

The report indicates that power plants would be targeted for attack “in the event of hostilities between the United States and DPRK” – the acronym for the Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea.

The Reconnaissance Bureau is part of the Ministry of People’s Armed Forces and is in charge of the estimated 60,000 North Korean special operations commandos.

The heavily redacted report is what is known as a raw intelligence report, consisting of information possibly provided to the United States by a defector or agent, or possibly obtained from electronic surveillance.

Reconnaissance Bureau commandos have undertaken terrorist operations in the past in South Korea and other locations.

But the DIA report is the first intelligence document indicating North Korea had planned attacks inside the United States and dispatched agents for the operations.

Disclosure of the report, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, comes amid threats by presumed North Korean agents to conduct September 11-style terrorist attacks against U.S. movie theaters.

The threats coincided with efforts by North Korea to prevent the showing Dec. 25 of the Sony Pictures film “The Interview,” a comedy involving a fictional plot to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

The U.S. government determined that the massive hack targeting against Sony, which stole an estimated 100 terabytes of data including unreleased films, has been determined to be the work of North Korean hackers or those working for the regime of Kim Jong Un.

S.Y. Lee, a Department Homeland Security spokesman, declined to comment on the 2004 document.

A DHS official said the department is aware of the threat to attack movie theaters.

“We are still analyzing the credibility of these statements, but at this time there is no credible intelligence to indicate an active plot against movie theaters within the United States,” the official said.

The official said DHS will adjust its security procedures to protect Americans.

“This includes continued, regular information sharing with our state, local, federal and international partners, builds on ongoing work, such as enhanced protection at federal facilities,” the official said, adding that the public is encouraged to report suspicious activity to law enforcement agencies.

The FBI, in response to a Freedom of Information Act request, said it was unaware of the DIA intelligence report on North Korean commando teams. In a July 9, 2012 letter, the FBI stated that it was unable to find any file records on North Korea’s Reconnaissance Bureau.

An FBI spokesman had no immediate comment. A DIA spokesman did not return emails seeking comment on the documents.

A second DIA document reveals that an American defector identified only as “Jackson” and as a former Air Force officer was working inside North Korea for the Reconnaissance Bureau.

The 1998 document stated that the officer had been “captured by North Korea” and was teaching North Koreans “U.S. Special Forces tactics, English [language], and interrogation techniques as chief of psychological operations studies at Madonghui Military College to North Korean seaborne snipers.”

The American also “visited the 52nd Seaborne Sniper Battalion to teach U.S. Special Forces tactics, American English, and interrogation techniques since before 1983,” the report said, noting that the training was carried out under the Reconnaissance Bureau.

The reference to “American English” is an indication the training may have been preparation for the future dispatch of North Korean snipers to the United States.

Mark Sauter, a security adviser to corporations and long-time North Korea watcher said the documents clearly raise alarms about whether North Korea could follow through on threats to conduct 9/11-style terrorist attacks.

“What they’ve done by the Sony hack is shown they’re certainly willing to attack a U.S. corporation,” said Sauter, who obtained the documents. “Now they’re threating a physical attack along the lines of 9/11 and it is certainly possible they could have agents inside the United States capable of carrying out terrorist attacks.”

“North Korean agents have committed terrorist attacks and kidnappings around the world,” said Sauter, a former Special Forces and infantry officer. “Why wouldn’t they send agents to the homeland of their biggest enemy?”

Sauter noted that it took the U.S. government weeks to determine that North Korea was capable of hacking a major company. “It would be a mistake for the government now to assume North Korea is not capable of launching a terrorist attack in the U.S.,” he said. “They may or may not have the desire to attack the U.S. homeland now or in the future, but there’s a good chance they have at least some capability.”

Bill Cowan, a former Army Special Forces officer, agreed and called the document an alarming disclosure.

“This demonstrates the North Koreans have capabilities most of us didn’t realize they had,” Cowan said. “It talks about them being on U.S. soil to carry out attacks and that takes the threat to a whole new level. And they’re probably still here.”

Past Reconnaissance Bureau operations included the bombing in Rangoon, Burma in 1983 in an attempt to kill then-South Korean President Chun Do-hwan. Three senior South Korean government ministers were killed in the attack.

Bureau commandos also carried out the attack on South Korea’s presidential Blue House in 1968 in an attempt to assassinate then-President Park Chung Hee, father of current South Korean President Park Geun-hye.

The Reconnaissance Bureau also is in charge of covert operations to infiltrate South Korea through tunnels and seaborne insertion of intelligence personnel.

North Korean intelligence activities in the United States have been limited.

In 2003, the FBI arrested Korean-American businessman John Joungwoong Yai, who was identified as a North Korean agent. He pleaded guilty to financial charges and served two years in prison.

Yai was paid for sending reports to North Korea through China based on publicly available sources. He had been tasked by North Korean officials to locate a North Korean agent who had defected.

Documents in the case revealed plans by North Korea to try and plant one of its agents inside the U.S. government.

http://freebeacon.com/national-security/dia-north-korea-planned-attacks-on-us-nuclear-plants/

[Dos Equis]

FBI: North Korea responsible for Sony hack
By Evan Perez, Jim Sciutto and Jeremy Diamond, CNN
Fri December 19, 2014

Washington (CNN) -- North Korea is officially responsible for the cyberattack on Sony Pictures, the FBI announced Friday.

An FBI investigation linked the malware, infrastructure and techniques a group of hackers called "Guardians of Peace" used in the Sony attack to previous North Korean cyberattacks. The North Korean-backed hackers broke into Sony's servers, published private emails and information and threatened to attack movie theaters screening "The Interview," a comedy film about an assassination plot on North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

U.S. officials also tell CNN the hackers routed the attack through servers in countries from Asia, Europe and Latin America, even some in the U.S.

The hackers used common DNS masking techniques to make it look like it was coming from those places, but the National Security Agency and FBI were able to track it back to North Korea.

North Korean internet traffic is routed through China, which is one way they are able to hide their activity, but the FBI was still able to trace it back to the origin, sources tell CNN.

The FBI called North Korea's actions "outside the bounds of acceptable state behavior" in a statement released Friday and called cyberthreats "one of the gravest national security dangers."

"North Korea's actions were intended to inflict significant harm on a U.S. business and suppress the right of American citizens to express themselves," the FBI said in the release. "We are deeply concerned about the destructive nature of this attack on a private sector entity and the ordinary citizens who worked there."

Sony backed off its plans to release the movie this week after the hacking group threatened to attack movie theaters. It has no further plans to release the film.

The investigation linked the "tools" of the Sony hack to North Korean cyberattacks in March 2013 against South Korean banks and media outlets.

U.S. officials have said the government will retaliate for the attacks and White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said the response would be "proportional."

"Working together, the FBI will identify, pursue, and impose costs and consequences on individuals, groups, or nation states who use cyber means to threaten the United States or U.S. interests," the FBI said in the release.

Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Carlin applauded Sony's cooperation with investigators and said the government will continue to "address this and other threats" with partners like Sony.

"We follow the facts and evidence wherever they lead, to identify the fingers at the keyboards that threaten our people, our companies, and our national security," Carlin said. "Identifying those responsible for these attacks is only the first step, and we will continue to do our part to protect and defend our nation from the asymmetric threats posed through cyberspace."

http://www.cnn.com/2014/12/19/politics/fbi-north-korea-responsible-sony/index.html

[240 is Back]

FBI: North Korea responsible for Sony hack
By Evan Perez, Jim Sciutto and Jeremy Diamond, CNN
Fri December 19, 2014

General Newt wants to invade.

[Dos Equis]

Sell-out Crowds Line Up for 'The Interview' as FBI, Police Buttress Security
Thursday, 25 Dec 2014

"The Interview," the Sony Pictures film about a fictional plot to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, opened in more than 300 cinemas across the United States on Christmas Day, drawing sell-out audiences in many theaters where outspoken patrons said they were championing freedom of expression.
Seth Rogen, who co-stars in the low-budget comedy with James Franco, and co-director Evan Goldberg surprised moviegoers by appearing at the sold-out 12:30 a.m. PT (0830 GMT) screening of the movie at a theater in Los Angeles where they briefly thanked fans for their support.

Sony Pictures this week backtracked from its original decision to cancel the release of the $44 million film after it became the target last month of the most destructive cyberattack ever on a U.S. company.

The United States blamed the attacks on North Korea.

Major movie chains had refused to release the film after threats of attacks on theaters and audiences by hackers.

But movie theater managers and patrons alike said they believed there was nothing to fear.

Nick Doiron, a 25-year-old engineer from New York's borough of Queens, said he had been planning to stream the movie online, but decided to see it in the Cinema Village theater in New York's Greenwich Village.

"The controversy itself was ridiculous," Doiron said. He said he was interested in North Korean news and had been following the story closely. "I want to be part of the message that this is how censorship ends."

The film is available online in the United States on Google Inc's

POLICE, FBI INVOLVED

Cinema Village manager Lee Peterson said the New York Police Department planned to have officers outside the theater. He said he had also heard from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, though he declined to provide details of security precautions.

"A week ago we didn't think this was going to happen. Let freedom ring. Nobody's going to tell us what we can or can't see," Peterson said to raucous applause as he addressed the theater's first audience of the day.

There was no visible police presence outside or inside the Cinema Village for Thursday's first screening at 10 a.m. ET (1500 GMT), which was not sold out

In Los Angeles, where the film drew a sell-out crowd for the 12:30 a.m. showing, people who held cups of warm cider as they waited for the theater to open said they came to show support for freedom of speech and freedom of choice.

The movie, which is playing in theaters in major metropolitan areas as well as in smaller cities ranging from Bangor, Maine, to Jasper, Indiana, features Rogen and Franco as journalists who get recruited by the CIA to assassinate the North Korean leader.

Sony decided to release the film after U.S. President Barack Obama, as well as such Hollywood luminaries as George Clooney and Republicans and Democrats in Washington, raised concerns that Hollywood was setting a precedent of self-censorship.

Many of Thursday's screenings sold out within hours on Wednesday as the controversy over the film made it front-page news around the world.

"You know, this is a film I probably would not have come to see but because of the controversy I thought I would come out tonight to stand up for freedom of speech," said Tamsin Hollow, in Los Angeles.

MOVIE FANS HAPPY

Fans who saw "The Interview" called it a great, funny movie.

"It's a farce of the highest level," said Matt Orstein as he left the theater in Los Angeles. "I would equate it to something like 'Airplane!' or 'Hot Shots!' you know. I mean it's funny but it's definitely nothing that could topple a monarchy."

Fans hailed the appearance by Rogen and Goldberg.

"It was a great movie, it was really funny, they did a fantastic job. It was really great that Seth came out, Seth Rogen himself came out and greeted everybody. Hey, go America," said Tom Sopit.

http://www.Newsmax.com/Headline/the-interview-sellout-audiences-rogen/2014/12/25/id/614951/#ixzz3MwrSLr9x