Introduction
North Korea experienced a significant internet outage that disrupted access to government websites and official news services for several hours on a recent Saturday.Context
The cause of this outage remains unclear, but experts suggest it was likely an internal issue rather than a cyberattack, as connectivity from China and Russia was also affected. Among the sites that became inaccessible were North Korea's main news services, the Foreign Ministry, and the Air Koryo national airline. According to checks, these services began to restore function slowly around midday.Developments
Junade Ali, a researcher based in the U.K. who monitors North Korea's internet infrastructure, reported that the country's entire internet was largely untraceable on monitoring systems and that email services were similarly disrupted. He stated, “Hard to say if this is intentional or accidental - but seems like this is internal rather than an attack."Officials at South Korea's cyber terror response centre, which tracks North Korea's cyber activities, were unavailable for comment. Martyn Williams, a technology and infrastructure specialist at the Washington-based Stimson Center, echoed the sentiment that the outage appeared to stem from internal issues, as connectivity with China and Russia had also faltered.
North Korea maintains one of the world's most tightly controlled internet systems, allowing public access only to a government-operated intranet isolated from the global network. A select group of elite individuals in the government have unrestricted internet access, and government websites are used primarily for propagating information aimed at foreign audiences.
The country has previously faced large-scale internet outages believed to have been caused by cyberattacks. North Korea employs specialized hacking teams, including a group known as Lazarus, tied to government intelligence, which has been implicated in attacks on foreign institutions and the theft and laundering of cryptocurrencies. Despite these allegations, North Korea consistently denies any involvement in hacking or cybercrime.