An American hacker seeking revenge claims they are responsible for removing North Korea's state-run websites from the internet.
Wired reported on the hacker – who goes by the handle P4x – and his lone wolf campaign against the North Korean government.
Over the last month, North Korea's state-run websites have disappeared from the internet at least twice. The nation's Air Koryo airline's website went down, as did the official government page for North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un. P4x is claiming responsibility.
The hacker claims he was a victim of a 2021 cyberattack carried out on security researchers by North Korea. He said he was frustrated both by the attack and the fact that the country faced virtually no repercussions from the US after the event.
According to P4x, the North Koreans tried to steal tools and identify vulnerabilities in software, but he claimed they ultimately got away with very little information by the end of the attack.
"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 told Wired.
P4x said he wanted them to "understand that if you come at us, it means some of your infrastructure is going down for awhile."
The hacker demonstrated his work for Wired, providing enough information to confirm he was behind the attacks on North Korea. He was unwilling to discuss the exact vulnerabilities he exploited in North Korea's internet infrastructure to knock out the nation's internet.
P4x said it was "pretty interesting how easy it was to actually have some effect in there."
He said the attacks were largely automated, allowing him to check on its progress periodically while he was watching TV and eating snacks.
While the hacks likely frustrated the North Korean government, they likely had little effect on the day-to-day lives of normal North Koreans, as very few have access to the internet. Most of the sites that were taken offline are reportedly used for propaganda and aimed at international audiences.
The hacker is trying to recruit more "hacktivists" to something they're calling the FUNK project – short for f*** you North Korea – to expand their ability to attack the nation.
"You can make a difference as one person," the FUNK website reads, according to Wired. "The goal is to perform proportional attacks and information-gathering in order to keep NK from hacking the western world completely unchecked."
