JAKARTA - Internet access in North Korea was successfully controlled by a hacker from the United States (US), which obviously caused a major blackout in the country last week.
Hiding behind the P4x name, the hackers have rendered all the country's websites inactive. The blackout came just after North Korea conducted a series of missile tests, prompting some experts to wonder if the blackout was caused by a cyberattack from a foreign country.
P4x explained he found many unpatched bugs in North Korea's systems, allowing it to launch denial of service attacks on servers and routers that depend on the country's multiple internet-connected networks.
Most of P4x refuses to disclose the bug, but he does give one example of a known vulnerability that can be exploited to take servers offline
According to the WIRED report, the reason he attacked North Korea was in retaliation for the country's hacking campaign last year, targeting Western security researchers, including P4x.
It's not known for sure whether they were groups or individuals, he said North Korean hackers tried to steal hacking tools and vulnerability information, although P4x said they were unable to take anything of value from it.
Even so, this P4x claim cannot be confirmed entirely true. However, Wired stated that he had shared screen recordings to prove his claim.
"It feels like the right thing to do here. If they don't see we have teeth, it will keep coming," said P4x, as quoted by CNET, Friday, February 4.
Experts say very few North Koreans have access to internet-connected systems, and most sites affected by the recent blackout are mostly used for government propaganda.
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