
By Byron V. Acohido
Nation-state backed hacking collectives have been around at least as long as the Internet.
However, evidence that the ‘golden age’ of cyber espionage is upon us continues to accumulate as the first half of 2018 comes to a close.
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What’s changed is that cyber spies are no longer content with digital intelligence gathering. Military operatives and intelligence units today routinely hack to knock down critical infrastructure, interfere with elections, and even to exact revenge on Hollywood studios.
Recently, one of the most powerful and notorious cyber spies on the planet, North Korean General Kim Yong Chol, stepped from obscurity into global celebrity status.
Last month President Trump invited the heretofore obscure General Kim into the White House for an impromptu state visit. For about two hours, Trump exchanged pleasantries with the man who orchestrated North Korea’s devastating hack of Sony Pictures in 2014, the aforementioned revenge caper. The tête-à-tête unfolded as Trump prepared for his summit in Singapore with General Kim’s boss, North Korean despot Kim Jong-un.
Rise of North Korea
It’s notable that, since the Sony Pictures hack, General Kim has steadily gotten more powerful and adept at the cyber spy game. Today he commands a cyber army, some 7,000 hackers and support staff strong, that has emerged as a potent and disruptive force. The Wall Street Journal recently reported that North Korea is cultivating elite hackers much like other countries train Olympic athletes.
Meanwhile, Iran-sponsored cyber operatives are making hay, as well. Trump’s decision …more