North Korea Gets Serious About Cyber Warfare As Kim Jong Un Doubles Cyber Army: Did James Franco’s ‘The Interview’ Prompt This Increase?

North Korea is trying to get in the international news headlines by increasing its cyber army. According to Seoul's AFP, North Korea got even more serious about its cyber warfare and has doubled the number of "cyber warriors" over the past two years. The cyber army acts as a cyber terrorism unit that looks to hack into various confidential databases. Did Kim Jong Un double his cyber army because of James Franco's 'The Interview'?

North Korea's cyber war unit now has "5,900 personnel, compared with 3,000 two years ago", the South's Yonhap news agency said.

While bigger doesn't always mean better, such dramatic increase in the cyber army's size is indeed something to keep track of.

A military source said, "The communist country operates a hacking unit under its General Bureau of Reconnaissance, which is home to some 1,200 professional hackers".

Is this increase just Kim Jong Un realizing the power of cyber warfare or has this been egged on by James Franco's 'The Interview'?

A spokesman of the North Korean foreign ministry (yes, such thing actually exists in the hermit kingdom) said that his dear leader calls the movie  "a wanton act of terror and act of war".

Since then Kim Jong Un has said some outrageous things, including a war threat if this movie does get released in the U.S.

According to the AFP, the North Korean hackers have used "malware deployments and virus-carrying emails for cyber attacks on South Korean military institutions, commercial banks, government agencies, TV broadcasters and media websites". Sounds rather dangerous.

In response, South Korea has also increased its "Internet security budget" to bolster its cyber vulnerability.

Meanwhile, James Franco is probably very happy in his Hollywood home that 'The Interview' has generated such buzz.

'The Interview', starring Seth Rogen and James Franco, is about "two talk show hosts hired by the CIA to assassinate Kim Jong Un" according to the Daily Beast. It will be released in the U.S. in this coming October. So rest assured that no major war will break out until the summer is over.

Tags
kim jong un
North Korea
South Korea
cyber war
army
James Franco
The Interview
world news
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