A UK-based researcher has stated that the cause of a recent internet outage experienced by North Korea is likely an internal issue rather than a cyberattack from outside.
Internet access in North Korea has been severely disrupted, according to a monitor from the United Kingdom, but the exact reasons behind this are believed to be an internal matter rather than the outcome of a cyberattack.
Junade Ali, a researcher tracking North Korea’s internet activities, reported on Saturday that the entire internet infrastructure of the secretive nation has gone offline, with no activity showing up on global internet monitoring systems.
“The internet is currently down in North Korea, affecting all routes through China or Russia,” Ali mentioned.
“It’s difficult to say whether this is intentional or accidental, but the situation indicates it is internal rather than an attack,” he added.
North Korea hosts several government websites that can be accessed externally, including the Foreign Ministry and official news agencies like the Korea Central News Agency (KCNA). These websites were not accessible when Al Jazeera tried to visit them on Saturday morning.
North Korea’s internet links and traffic mostly pass through China’s servers.
The exact number of individuals in North Korea with direct access to the global internet is uncertain, but it is estimated to be a very small fraction of the population of about 25 million, who primarily use a controlled and restricted intranet called Kwangmyong.
Nevertheless, this isolated state has faced cyberattacks previously, such as in January 2022, when an American hacker shut down North Korea’s publicly visible websites for over a week using DDoS attacks.
North Korea, which is ruled by Kim Jong Un, has been accused by US and UN officials of harboring hacker groups involved in cyber theft on a global scale.
In December, a US-based blockchain analysis firm, Chainalysis, released a report revealing that North Korean hackers had set a new record for cyber theft in 2024, stealing over $1.34bn worth of cryptocurrency in 47 separate incidents.
Junade Ali, a researcher tracking North Korea’s internet activities, reported on Saturday that the entire internet infrastructure of the secretive nation has gone offline, with no activity showing up on global internet monitoring systems.
“The internet is currently down in North Korea, affecting all routes through China or Russia,” Ali mentioned.
“It’s difficult to say whether this is intentional or accidental, but the situation indicates it is internal rather than an attack,” he added.
North Korea hosts several government websites that can be accessed externally, including the Foreign Ministry and official news agencies like the Korea Central News Agency (KCNA). These websites were not accessible when Al Jazeera tried to visit them on Saturday morning.
North Korea’s internet links and traffic mostly pass through China’s servers.
The exact number of individuals in North Korea with direct access to the global internet is uncertain, but it is estimated to be a very small fraction of the population of about 25 million, who primarily use a controlled and restricted intranet called Kwangmyong.
Nevertheless, this isolated state has faced cyberattacks previously, such as in January 2022, when an American hacker shut down North Korea’s publicly visible websites for over a week using DDoS attacks.
North Korea, which is ruled by Kim Jong Un, has been accused by US and UN officials of harboring hacker groups involved in cyber theft on a global scale.
In December, a US-based blockchain analysis firm, Chainalysis, released a report revealing that North Korean hackers had set a new record for cyber theft in 2024, stealing over $1.34bn worth of cryptocurrency in 47 separate incidents.
