I would like tentatively to share the insights of Josephine Wolff, an associate professor of cybersecurity policy at the Tufts Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.
The theme is “How Big of a Cyber Threat Is North Korea? North Korea’s cyber operations have been splashy and high-profile, but not especially sophisticated, targeted, or profitable, pointing to how limiting the country’s resources are even in the cyber domain.”
The war between Russia and Ukraine has drawn considerable attention to international concerns that Russia may use cyberattacks to retaliate against sanctions and how the conflict and its consequences may reshape Russia’s strategy in cyberspace.
One central reference point in those debates is North Korea, which has long been a complicated aggressor in cyber conflicts with attacks that mix both economic and political motivations and show little concern for collateral damage or unintended consequences.
A recent threat intelligence report from security firm Truesec hypothesized that the sanctions directed at Russia may cause it to function as an “isolated rogue state”; align its offensive cyber strategy more with North Korea’s; and use cyberattacks to steal money, as well as intelligence.
