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posted by mrpg on Tuesday October 30 2018, @06:57AM   Printer-friendly
from the bills-to-pay dept.

Submitted via IRC for Bytram

Analysis of North Korea's Internet Traffic Shows a Nation Run Like a Criminal Syndicate

Recorded Future has published a series of analyses on North Korea's most senior leadership's use of the internet. As the last report of the series, it demonstrates how adaptable this leadership has become in both using and monetizing its use of the internet.

The leadership's pattern of global internet usage has shifted. A year ago, it peaked at the weekends, primarily for online gaming and video streaming. Over the last year, weekday usage has increased while weekend use has decreased (although weekend use is still primarily for gaming and streaming). Recorded Future does not know why this shift has occurred, but suggests that it is indicative of the global internet becoming a greater part of the leaders' every day work.

Concurrent with this pattern change has been the construction of North Korea's new Internet Communications Bureau headquarters in Pyongyang. The combination of changing usage patterns and the completion of this building could, suggests Recorded Future, "signify a professionalization of internet use across North Korea's most senior leadership. This would mean that these leaders utilize the internet to a greater extent as part of their jobs, as opposed to for their own entertainment."


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  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by MostCynical on Tuesday October 30 2018, @09:00AM (3 children)

    by MostCynical (2589) on Tuesday October 30 2018, @09:00AM (#755547) Journal

    so, which criminal syndicates were used to baseline internet activity? Do they get dumps of convicted criminal's gang's internet histories and map usage to time?

    Were they comparing one particular identified group, or are they drawing conclusions based on assumptions based on guesses?

    Or, are the researchers declaring certain activity to be likely to be criminal and that means anything North Korea does, qualifies?

    --
    "I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 30 2018, @09:24AM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 30 2018, @09:24AM (#755551)

    If you use the internet for anything else than porn and games you're a dirty criminal. At least this is the impression I'm left with having read the fine summary.

    • (Score: 2) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Tuesday October 30 2018, @03:52PM

      by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us (6553) on Tuesday October 30 2018, @03:52PM (#755678) Journal

      That was pretty much my impression from reading TFA as well. It talks about North Korea cryptocurrency raids, then goes on to correlate traffic to where North Koreans are living or studying, but internet traffic is disproportionate to the amount living/working in China and Russia, and that 12 to 16 hour working periods are common (how they ensure that it is the same person online and not a different person taking over the work at the same system is not stated). It's soup for the city from a handful of oysters. Not the least of which is that they don't establish how a criminal syndicate runs its internet operations at all - just equates North Korea to that by fiat.

      --
      This sig for rent.
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 30 2018, @09:25AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 30 2018, @09:25AM (#755552)

    so, which criminal syndicates were used to baseline internet activity?
    ...
    Were they comparing one particular identified group, or are they drawing conclusions based on assumptions based on guesses?

    My guess? Banksters.

    Or, are the researchers declaring certain activity to be likely to be criminal and that means anything North Korea does, qualifies?

    By and large, the Americans need a "bad guy", to close their eyes as the "good guys™" and dream the exceptional American Dream. Without the bad guys, the pressure of cognitive dissonance grows too high inside population.
    The trouble is China is too strong, Russia is governed by Trump's boss, Africa is too confusing (country or continent? do they drink and how much?) [theatlantic.com].
    So what do you expect?