Goto

Collaborating Authors

 north korea


AI Tools Are Helping Mediocre North Korean Hackers Steal Millions

WIRED

One group of hackers used AI for everything from vibe coding their malware to creating fake company websites--and stole as much as $12 million in three months. The advent of AI hacking tools has raised fears of a near future in which anyone can use automated tools to dig up exploitable vulnerabilities in any piece of software, like a kind of digital intrusion superpower. Here in the present, however, AI seems to be playing a more mundane, if still concerning, role in hackers' toolkit: It's helping mediocre hackers level up and carry out broad, effective malware campaigns. That includes one group of relatively unskilled North Korean cybercriminals who've been discovered using AI to carry out virtually every part of an operation that hacked thousands of victims to steal their cryptocurrency. On Wednesday, cybersecurity firm Expel revealed what it describes as a North Korean state-sponsored cybercrime operation that installed credential-stealing malware on more than 2,000 computers, specifically targeting the machines of developers working on small cryptocurrency launches, NFT creation, and Web3 projects.


N Korea's Kim unveils 50 rocket launchers ahead of key congress

Al Jazeera

N Korea's Kim unveils 50 rocket launchers ahead of key congress North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has unveiled dozens of nuclear-capable rocket launchers ahead of a key congress of the governing Workers' Party, according to state media. Kim hailed the 600mm-calibre rocket launchers as "wonderful" and "attractive" during the ceremony on Wednesday, adding that new military and construction goals will be set during the upcoming congress. "When this weapon is used, actually, no force would be able to expect God's protection," Kim said, according to the KCNA "It is really a wonderful and attractive weapon," Kim said, according to South Korea's Yonhap News Agency. He described the launchers as the "world's most advantageous weapon for concentrated super-powerful attack", according Yonhap. Photos released by state media showed dozens of launch vehicles parked in neat rows on the plaza of Pyongyang's House of Culture, which will host the congress.



South Korea says civilians sent drones to North Korea four times, harming ties

The Japan Times

Fragments of a drone lie scattered on the ground in the Muksan-ri area, Kaepung District, Kaesong City, North Korea, after North Korea said on Saturday that South Korea sent another drone into North Korean airspace on Jan. 4, according to North Korean state media KCNA, in this picture released on Jan. 10. SEOUL - South Korea's Unification Minister Chung Dong-young said on Wednesday that three civilians had sent drones to North Korea on four occasions since President Lee Jae Myung took office last year, harming inter-Korean ties. The trio flew the aircraft between September and January, Chung said, citing an ongoing investigation by police and the military. Drones crashed on two occasions in North Korea, in line with claims made by Pyongyang, he said. On two other attempts the drones returned to Paju, a border settlement in South Korea, after flying over Kaesong, a city in North Korea, Chung said.


US House panel advances bill to give Congress authority on AI chip exports

Al Jazeera

What is the Insurrection Act? Why is the US Fed chair criminal probe causing alarm? The United States House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee has overwhelmingly voted to advance a bill that would give Congress more power over artificial intelligence chip exports despite pushback from White House AI tsar David Sacks and a social media campaign against the legislation. Representative Brian Mast of Florida, a Republican and the chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, introduced the "AI Overwatch Act" in December after US President Donald Trump greenlit shipments of Nvidia's powerful H200 AI chips to China. The bill claims that those "countries of concern" also include countries beyond China, such as Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba and Venezuela.


North Korea's Kim Yo Jong urges South Korea to investigate drone incidents

The Japan Times

North Korea's Kim Yo Jong urges South Korea to investigate drone incidents Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, arrives at the Vostochny Сosmodrome before a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un, in Russia's far eastern Amur region in September 2023. Seoul - North Korea's Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of leader Kim Jong Un, urged South Korea to investigate recent drone incidents for detailed explanations, in a statement carried by state media Sunday. Kim said she personally appreciates Seoul for making a wise decision to announce its official stance that it has no intention of provocation, warning that any provocations will result in terrible situations, the official Korean Central News Agency said. Drones were flown from South Korea into North Korea earlier this month, after another intrusion in September, North Korea's military said on Saturday, which was soon followed by South Korea's response that they were not operated by the military. South Korea also said there would be a thorough investigation of a civilian possibly having operated the drones, making clear its stance of having no intention of provocation. Clear is just the fact that the drone from the ROK violated the airspace of our country, Kim said.




Kim Jong Un declares AI military drone development a 'top priority'

Al Jazeera

Kim Jong Un declares AI military drone development a'top priority' North Korea's Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un has said the use of artificial intelligence is a "top priority" in modernising his country's increasingly sophisticated weapons technology and building up drone capabilities, state media reports. During a visit to the Unmanned Aeronautical Technology Complex in the capital Pyongyang on Thursday, Kim presided over performance tests of multipurpose drones and unmanned surveillance vehicles, North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said on Friday. Kim also called for "expanding and strengthening the serial production capacity of drones". The visit to the aeronautical complex comes just a week after Kim oversaw another test of a new solid-fuel rocket engine designed for intercontinental ballistic missiles, which he hailed as a "significant" expansion of Pyongyang's nuclear capabilities. North Korea's military power includes nuclear-armed ballistic and cruise missiles, an increasing stockpile of nuclear weapons and a nascent spy satellite programme, according to the United States Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA).


North Korea's Kim arrives in Beijing with daughter and possible heir

BBC News

Tens of thousands of military personnel will march in formation through Beijing's historic Tiananmen Square on the day of the parade, which will mark the 80th anniversary of Japan's formal surrender in World War Two and the end of the conflict. The 70-minute parade is likely to feature China's latest weaponry, including hundreds of aircraft, tanks and anti-drone systems - the first time its military's new force structure is being fully showcased in a parade. Most Western leaders are not expected to attend the parade, due to their opposition to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which has driven the sanctions against Putin's regime. But it will see leaders from Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar and Vietnam in attendance - further proof of Beijing's concerted efforts to ramp up ties with neighbouring South East Asia. Just one EU leader will be attending - Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico - while Bulgaria and Hungary will send representatives.