Cyber-Conflict Escalates in Midst of North Korean Tensions

North Korea appears to increase its cyber-activity in step with its controversial nuclear program, while the United States boosts its own programs and Chinese espionage attacks continue. Nation-state attacks through the Internet continue to escalate, with a massive surge in cyber-reconnaissance activity appearing to come from North Korea at the same time the country ratcheted up its nuclear rhetoric, according to security experts. In February, attackers operating from North Korean Internet addresses probed U.S. servers more than 1,000 times, up from the previous average of fewer than 200 probes per month, according to managed security firm Solutionary. In addition, a massive reconnaissance operation—consisting of another 11,000 probes from servers in North Korea—was directed at a single financial institution, wrote Jon Heimerl, Solutionary's director of strategic security, in the brief analysis. The attacks seem to coincide with North Korea's apparent nuclear test on Feb. 12, he said. "There do appear to be several parallels between escalated verbal rhetoric and escalated cyber-attacks," Heimerl wrote. "It is evident that, whether government influenced or not, that the dual path of aggression is a new way of facing the world, at least from North Korea." The Internet has increasingly become the medium for deniable nation-state activity. From China's cyber-espionage to the United States' and Israel's alleged attack on Iran's nuclear program using the Stuxnet worm, cyber conflict has become a staple of nations' covert military intelligence and reconnaissance operations.

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