Published in News

Hackers are elite in North Korea

by on05 December 2014



All the boiled rice you can eat

Hackers, who want a good life free from the risk of arrest, should consider moving to North Korea. North Korea has poured resources into a sophisticated cyber-warfare cell called Bureau 121 and apparently hackers have a good life over there.

A North Korean diplomat has denied Pyongyang was behind the attack that was launched last month but a U.S. national security source said it was a suspect. Defectors from the North have said Bureau 121, staffed by some of the most talented computer experts in the insular state, is part of the General Bureau of Reconnaissance, an elite spy agency run by the military. They have said it is involved in state-sponsored hacking, used by the Pyongyang government to spy on or sabotage its enemies.

Military hackers are handpicked and trained from as young as 17 so it might be a bit tricky for a foreigner to get in. Bureau 121 unit comprises about 1,800 cyber-warriors, and is considered the elite of the military. One hacker was given a large state-allocated apartment in an upscale part of Pyongyang, and appears to run a family business.

"No one knows ... his company runs business as usual. That’s why what he does is scarier," Jang said. "My friend, who belongs to a rural area, could bring all of his family to Pyongyang. Incentives for North Korea’s cyber experts are very strong ... they are rich people in Pyongyang."

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