Fears Grow Of
Intensified North Korean Cyber-Terrorism
An internationally
respected think-tank has predicted an increase in
North Korean sponsored cyber-terrorism.
The North Korean
Strategy Think-tank (NKST), based in
Washington, D.C., collates intelligence from
defectors, intelligence agencies and informed
international observers. Its own psychologists
and strategic analysts then use this information
to fine-tune their model of the rogue state in an
attempt to predict the most likely behaviour of
the regime.
The most recent NKST
analysis anticipates that further military
provocations will be instigated by North Korea.
It predicts, however, that these will fall short
of any act sufficient to justify an American
military strike in the face of Chinese and
Russian opposition to military retaliation.
The Russian analysis that
the Pyongyang leadership would rather eat grass
then give up their nuclear ambitions is accepted
as correct. The current NKST model, however,
challenges the fear propagated by western media
that Kim Jong-un is mentally unstable. The model
indicates a low probability that he would
deliberately seek a nuclear confrontation. As one
NKST source unofficially put it: ‘Pyongyang
well understands that after an all-out American
attack, no edible grass would remain in North
Korea.’
The NKST model has
concluded that the current North Korean strategy
to damage its perceived enemies will focus on
intensification of its already significant
efforts in the area of cyber-terrorism.
The NKST model assumes a
calculation by Kim Jong-un that cyber-disruption
perpetuated by a nation would be unlikely to draw
any significant retaliation. This is believed to
be a reasonable assumption - in part because
culpability is very hard to prove. The NKST also
notes, however, that cyber-terrorism is different
in type from military action. A military response
to a cyber-attack would currently be viewed by
the international community as entirely
disproportionate.
Credible rumours have
recently emerged that WikiLeaks may have
suppressed information about North Korean cyber-terrorism
- information that had been covertly fed to the
organisation from US and European intelligence
sources. An unnamed whistleblower within WikiLeaks
is alleged to have revealed the existence of
reports relating to the experimental North Korean
targeting of large numbers of Wi-Fi enabled
systems in the west - parts of the, so called, 'Internet
of Things'.
Superficially, many of
these reports appear ludicrous, and their alleged
suppression by WikiLeaks has been
attributed to fear of ridicule or accusations of
propagating fake news.
Specific examples of North
Korea’s experimental hi-jacking of such
systems are alleged to have already included:
*Increasing the oven
temperature being used by one contestant in 'the
Great British Bake Off' in order to incinerate
the contestant’s soufflé.
Although appearing to be a ridiculous claim,
intelligence agencies have long been aware of Kim
Jong-un's interest in western cookery programmes
together with his fury at being rejected for the
role of judge in an early series of MasterChef.
*Switching off lights and cameras on the ITV
breakfast show, Good Morning Britain, when Piers
Morgan was presenting.
As in relation to nuclear provocations, Pyongyang
appears to have an eye to the consequences of its
actions. The North Koreans may reason that, if
the silencing of Piers Morgan was ever attributed
to North Korea, it might generate considerable
public support for Kim Jong-un in the UK that
would counter calls for retaliation in respect of
the cyber-attack.
*Triggering Theresa May’s and Angela
Merkel’s alarm clocks at three o’clock
every morning so the leaders are never able to
get a decent night’s sleep.
Any recent close-up photograph of either leader
immediately makes this apparently bizarre claim
hugely more credible then it first appears to be.
Other attacks are said to
have occurred on systems which can be monitored
by Pyongyang but for which the practical effects
of North Korean hacking are not obvious on the
ground.
Examples have allegedly included:
*Disrupting the timetabling computers on the
British railway network to cause commuter chaos.
*Changing remotely collected data from UK
meteorological stations to make UK weather
predictions wildly unreliable.
*Taking selective control of cars across Italy
and causing them to be driven in a reckless and
suicidal manner.
*Inserting random nonsense into tweets by Donald
Trump.
*Changing satnav programs to cause large trucks
to become jammed in narrow country lanes.
*Scrambling any official electronic
communications that contain the term ‘Brexit’
to cause confusion and chaos in the Brexit
negotiation process.
If true, all the above cyber-attacks have been
cunningly and effectively concealed because those
observing the outcomes would have failed to
detect anything unexpected.
Whilst the above actions
may seem like superficial mischief, perfecting
the perpetration of such attacks is thought to
have a deadly serious purpose. For example, it is
believed that, by 2020, Kim Jong-un could
exercise control over millions of specific, Wi-Fi
enabled domestic appliances throughout America
and Europe.
One capability this would
afford would be to simultaneously switch to
maximum heat all vulnerable ovens and hobs in the
early hours of a Sunday morning. Such an attack
could also include the hyper-energisation of
magnetrons in many microwave ovens such that
anyone attempting to disconnect the weaponised
equipment would be incinerated.
The NKST calculates that
such an action could result in firestorms which
would decimate many western cities.
Other such doomsday
capabilities might include:
*Disabling condom vending machines late on
Friday nights so that an unpredicted population
increase would challenge western resources.
*Allowing an Alexa voice command to arrange a
next day, Amazon Prime delivery of plutonium 239
to Pyongyang.
*Aiding Jeremy Corbyn to become UK Prime Minister
and hence destroying the UK economy.
*Assisting Russia in aiding Donald Trump's re-election
for a second term.
The NKST has cautioned that
with so many items of commercial and domestic
equipment increasing being Wi-Fi enabled, the
nature of any such co-ordinated attacks would be
limited only by the imagination of the Pyongyang
leadership.
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