North Korea Improves Cyber Warfare Capacity, U.S. Says

Gen. Thurman: “He is aggressive and more assertive” than his father

From Tony Capaccio, Bloomberg News:  North Korea’s government has a “significant” cyber warfare capability that it continues to improve, the top U.S. commander on the Korean peninsula said.

The capability is part of an unconventional arsenal that the North Koreans possess, along with what the U.S. says is the world’s largest special operations force of 60,000 personnel, Army General James Thurman said yesterday in Washington. . . .

In March testimony before the House Armed Services Committee, Thurman said “North Korea employs sophisticated computer hackers trained to launch cyber infiltration and cyber attacks.”

“Such attacks are ideal for North Korea” because they can be done anonymously, and they “have been increasingly employed against a variety of targets including military, governmental, educational and commercial institutions,” Thurman said. At that time, he didn’t characterize North Korea’s cyber capabilities as “significant.”

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is “making changes” as he consolidates power since succeeding his father, the late Kim Jong Il, in December, Thurman said yesterday.

“He is aggressive and more assertive” than his father, Thurman said of Kim Jong Un, who he said is 29 years old.  (photo: Guardian)

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