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KP domain switch came after KCC Europe disappeared
North Korea’s dot-kp top-level Internet domain was reassigned after the company running it, KCC Europe, ended service and went months without replying to queries from Pyongyang, according to a report released this week. The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority, which oversees country-level domains and the IP address system, switched control of dot-kp from the Korea Computer…
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DPRK denies cyber attack on Nonghyup Bank
The DPRK has made its first comment on allegations that it was behind a cyber attack on a large South Korean bank and, not surprisingly, has denied any involvement. Last week South Korean prosecutors said they had found evidence that North Korea was behind the April attack, which brought chaos to the computer system and…
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North last, South falling in press freedom
North Korea remains the country with the least press freedom in the world, according to the 2011 Press Freedom index from Washington, D.C., based Freedom House. The news isn’t a surprise to anyone that follows North Korea closely. There is a complete lack of independent media, official media is highly censored, and the government actively…
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Dot KP domain assigned to Star
Control of North Korea’s dot-KP Internet top-level domain has been assigned to Star JV, the North Korean-Thai joint venture that’s behind the recent wiring of Pyongyang to the global Internet. The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA), which administers country code domains, updated its database on Monday, May 2, to assign the KP domain to “Star…
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Voice of Korea website due Friday
North Korea’s international broadcasting service, The Voice of Korea, will launch a website on Friday, according to a domestic radio report transcribed by BBC Monitoring. (The site has launched a day early. See below for update.) The site is due to open on Friday, which is Kim Il Sung’s birthday, and will be available at…
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North Korea behind Internet attacks, says South
South Korea’s National Police Agency says North Korea was behind cyber attacks that targeted 30 major websites between March 3 and 5, according to local news reports. Websites such as the presidential office and Financial Services Commission were brought down by the distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack. A DDoS attack involves flooding a server…
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North Korean delegation visits Silicon Valley
A delegation of North Korean officials toured Silicon Valley in California, according to several news reports. The group of 12 government employees had been in the U.S. on a 2-week trip organized by the Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation at University of California, San Diego. They spent about 100 minutes inside Google from 10am…
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UN Special Rapporteur calls for freedoms in DPRK
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the DPRK has called for increased freedom of information and access to independent media for the people of North Korea. The calls came in a 76-point report submitted on Feb. 21, 2011, to the UN’s Human Rights Council. The rapporteur, Marzuki Darusman, met with defectors, politicians and others in…
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KCNA significantly increasing output
The Korean Central News Agency has significantly increased its online output in the last few months as it continues to expand its new website. The website, available at kcna.kp (except in South Korea where it’s blocked), first appeared in October 2010 and is KCNA’s first official home on the web. KCNA news was previously available…
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KCNA reporting Chinese Internet filtering
North Korea’s official news agency, KCNA, has reported three times in the past week on China’s filtering of the Internet. The reports come at an interesting time for free-speech online. Internet-based social networks and communications systems are being hailed as instrumental in protests that have toppled two Middle Eastern leaders and the U.S. has confirmed…
