According to “Wired“, an American hacker tried to distort the internet connection of North Korea. While wearing pajamas, eating chips, and watching the movie, he managed to carry out the same.
The hacker worked on bringing North Korea’s tightly walled-off internet to its knees over the last few weeks. This hacker goes by the handle P4x. His actions are seemingly payback, as P4x told “Wired” that he fell victim to the hacking of North Korean spies himself just over a year ago. But according to him, he never got any backup from the US government, even after reaching out to the FBI. Thus he planned to take the matter into his own hands.
“It felt like the right thing to do here,” he told Wired. “If they don’t see we have teeth, it’s just going to keep coming.”
According to the hacker, much of the software-based stuff, which is in use by the North Korean government, is outdated nowadays. This thing makes it an easy target for him. P4x has thus exploited many such vulnerabilities, making several servers of the country down through “Denial-of-service” attacks.
“It’s pretty interesting how easy it was to actually have some effect in there,” he told the magazine.
Many of the Internet-based services were brought down by the hacker, but it is still uncertain about the consequences since most North Koreans don’t even have access to the Internet, to begin with. Moreover, most of the networks in the country are only used to spread propaganda.
“I would say if he’s going after those people, he’s probably directing his attentions to the wrong place,” Martyn Williams, a researcher for the Stimson Center think tank, told Wired. “But if he just wants to annoy North Korea, then he is probably being annoying.”