A hacker who disrupted North Korea’s internet for over a week shares a surprising lesson he learned about the isolated country.
A hacker named Alejandro Caceres, also known as P4x, has made headlines for bringing down North Korea’s internet for more than a week.
This bold action has drawn attention from the tech community and raised questions about cybersecurity in the country.
Why did the hacker take down North Korea’s internet?
Caceres, a 38-year-old cybersecurity entrepreneur from Florida, had his own reasons for targeting North Korea.
According to reports, he was approached by North Korean spies who attempted to steal his hacking tools.
Feeling threatened, he decided to retaliate by launching an attack on North Korea’s online infrastructure.
He aimed to demonstrate that the country could not act with impunity.
The method of the attack
Caceres worked alone from his home to execute the hack. He targeted every public website in North Korea, successfully taking them offline for over a week.
In a discussion on Reddit, he mentioned that while it seemed straightforward, it required specific skills and training.
He expressed that he felt it was the right action to take, stating, “It felt like the right thing to do here. If they don’t see we have teeth, it’s just going to keep coming.”
The hacker explains what he learned about the country
After carrying out this significant hack, Caceres shared his insights about North Korea’s internet capabilities.
He remarked that the country struggles with its internet infrastructure.
He discovered that North Korea has only two routers for accessing the wider internet, which illustrates its limited connectivity.
“They suck at Internet. Their internet is little sticks and glue. Even better though, I learned they have only two routers of egress and ingress of the Internet.”
Caceres’s actions have received mixed reactions.
Many people seem to appreciate his boldness, but he also expected more backlash.
One user said: This man is about to disappear permanently what a fool
The second user added: Very bold and showing his face and name. Stay safe dude
The third user wrote: Even if nobody likes NK, it is still a confessed crime.
The fourth user said: Big deal, most of the people there probably can only visit one website; simping for their leader.
Come back when you’ve given them complete access to the internet for the people there.
Another user wrote: Internet in North Korea??? There is no such thing
Someone said: That’s wild! What a bold move. I’m curious, what do you think about the ethics of hacking a country’s internet?
He stated that he had not faced any serious negative consequences from his actions.
Instead, he mentioned that intelligence agencies had reached out to him to understand how he managed to pull off the hack.
“Everyone seems to sort of like it but cannot say that officially. Honestly, I expected a LOT more negativity just because that’s the natural order of things.” he said.
Caceres shared humorous experiences during meetings.
During his Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything) session, Caceres shared some humorous insights about meeting with intelligence agencies.
He joked about the stereotypical portrayal of these meetings, saying, “We actually did it in a basement a couple of times. It was super X-Files type stuff but also like any normal meeting.”
“Recently I was on NPR’s The World and a bunch of other sh**,” he penned on the social media platform.
“Anyway, AMA about the hack, personal stuff, whatever! Happy to answer. I have not yet been murdered or arrested, so that’s pretty good.”
“Honestly I’ve been asked this a lot. And I can’t really tell haha. I used to say nah it wasn’t that hard.
