Information wants to be free - the collapse of the North Korean information cordon
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Presented at AusCERT 2014 by
North Korea is a famously secretive country, tightly controlling both the information coming into and going out of the country. This presentation examines the way that info leaks are contributing to the cracks in the North Korean regime's information cordon, which is unparalleled in terms of its extent and effectiveness. The stability of the regime is heavily dependent upon shaping the worldview of its citizens, and ensuring that no information from the outside world that undermines the official narrative is accessible. This has been achieved through a combination of social and technological controls. The government tightly controls who can visit foreign countries, and usually only allows people with families to travel internationally, their families being effectively held hostage to ensure their return home. TVs and radios sold in the country are hard-wired to receive only the official channels, and owning an 'unlocked' TV or radio which is tunable to other frequencies is a serious crime. Ownership of foreign media, such as immensely popular South Korean soap operas, is illegal, as is owning a DVD or VCD device on which to play them. Both North Koreans and visitors risk imprisonment, torture and execution for this transfer of information. These measures are gradually coming unstuck, as illegal border crossings have led to the spread of word-of-mouth information about the outside world. Computers and USB sticks, which are not in themselves illegal to own, have introduced a mechanism for recording, playing and distributing media, using legal hardware. This presentation discusses the flow of information both in and out of North Korea, showing how technology and its social ramifications are now making the continuation of the information cordon untenable, and examines how the North Korean regime is adapting to this change. By examining the means, and consequences, of leaks in such an unparalleled state of control, we will demonstrate the effectiveness of both modern intelligence gathering tools and the natural tendency of information to leak out and be free.