North Korean hackers allegedly probing US utilities for weaknesses

Hackers believed to be from North Korea are casing out US electric companies in preparation for a possible cyber attack – so says security firm FireEye. "FireEye devices detected and stopped spear phishing emails sent on Sept. 22, 2017, to US electric companies by known cyber threat actors likely affiliated with the North …

[Commenter44655]

This seems like the perfect place to plant some information about ways to defect, and how terrible North Korea's government is, akin to dropping leaflets or shortwave radios.

[Mark 85]

It would seem that way except the general populace have been well indoctrinated into believing what "Dear Leader" and his minions tell them. There are those who have defected but not many overall and usually not the worker bees.

[Amorous Cowherder]

Why would you leave? If you behave like a good citizen, as you have been taught to be, then you get the "carrot". You get the nice education, somewhere to live, food to eat, the most suitable friends, your family will be looked after, all supplied by the all loving State.

Of course, if the tech bods in DPRK saw how Westerners behave in an online argument in a social media forum they'd think we all have the mental age of 5 year olds and they'd certainly never want to leave their homeland!

[Anonymous Coward]

Upside

at least someone is checking security in a way that might get Merkins blockhead managers to notice

[allthecoolshortnamesweretaken]

Re: Merkins

... you keep using this word...

[Hollerithevo]

Re: Merkins

Yes, can we please use 'Murcans or something? Please?

[Elmer Phud]

I'd have been surprised

if they hadn't been busy.

Is it not the job of each security service to find out how to get past other folks' security?

What do we pay our snoopers for, after all?

[Andytug]

Not surprising at all....

Officially the DPRK and South Korea/US are still at war with each other, only a ceasefire was signed not an armistice AFAIK?

[allthecoolshortnamesweretaken]

Re: Not surprising at all....

Correct.

[John Brown (no body)]

Re: Not surprising at all....

"Officially the DPRK and South Korea/US are still at war with each other,"

War? I thought it was a UN Police Action. They said so in the documentary about one of Mobile Army Surgical Units.

[Aodhhan]

Where's the news story?

This isn't news... it's old information. This has been going on for years.

News would be, doing real journalism to find out something new.

Such as... China is getting around UN Sanctions, by contracting North Korea hackers to probe for weaknesses in the utility networks of USA, England, South Korea, etc. Thus, they are able to fund North Korean military and receive valuable information system information.

C'mon. Stop with the lazy reporting.

[Will Godfrey]

But of course...

None of the 'free world'(tm) countries are doing such things. That would be terribly anti-democratic wouldn't it?