US v North Korea Cyber-Wars Part 2 - Score - Obama 2 - Kim Jong-Un 1 - love this "NK's primary arms dealer is, quote "The Korea Mining Development Trading Corp"

Sony cyber-attack: North Korea faces new US sanctions

The White House said the cyber-attack was an attempt by North Korea to restrict free expression

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The US has imposed new sanctions on North Korea in response to a cyber-attack against Sony Pictures Entertainment.

President Barack Obama signed an executive order on Friday allowing sanctions on three North Korean organisations and 10 individuals.

The White House said the move was a response to North Korea's "provocative, destabilising, and repressive actions".

US sanctions are already in place over North Korea's nuclear programme.

But Friday's actions are believed to be the first time the US has moved to punish any country for cyber-attacks on a US company.

Among those named in the sanctions were:

• The Reconnaissance General Bureau, North Korea's primary intelligence organisation.
• North Korea's primary arms dealer, the Korea Mining Development Trading Corporation (Komid).
• Korea Tangun Trading Corporation, which supports North Korea's defence research.
• Jang Song Chol: Named by the US Treasury as a Komid representative in Russia and a government official.
• Kim Yong Chol: An official of the North Korean government, according to the US, and a Komid representative in Iran.
• Ryu Jin and Kang Ryong: Komid officials and members of the North Korean government who are operating in Syria, according to the US.

White House officials told reporters the move was in response to the Sony hack, but the targets of the sanctions were not directly involved.

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Speaking before Christmas, President Obama said the Sony hack was "an act of cyber-vandalism"

Instead, the sanctions are designed to further isolate North Korea's defence industry as deterrent for future cyber-attacks.

The FBI and President Obama have previously said they believe North Korea was behind the cyber-attack.

North Korea denies involvement in the hack, and some cyber-security experts have also cast doubt on its guilt.

However, a senior White House official said it was extremely rare for the US to attribute cyber-attacks, and it was only done so because of the destructive nature of the attack, and because the White House saw it as "crossing a threshold".

Hack effect

Sony was embarrassed after a group calling itself Guardians of Peace leaked data from its computers, exposing emails and personal details.

The group later threatened cinema chains planning to screen Sony's satirical North Korea comedy, The Interview.

Oblique references to the 9/11 terror attacks prompted the cancellation of the film's nationwide release. A small number of independent cinemas did screen the film, and it was released online.

The Interview was later distributed online

Announcing Friday's sanctions, the US said the apparent effort to stifle the movie release was part of the justification for the new restrictions.

"We take seriously North Korea's attack that aimed to create destructive financial effects on a US company and to threaten artists and other individuals with the goal of restricting their right to free expression," the White House said in a statement.

"Today's actions are the first aspect of our response."

North Korea has blamed the US for lengthy internet outages in the country last week.

Officials would not say whether the statement that sanctions were the "first aspect" of US rebuttal was a denial of responsibility for the recent North Korean internet outages, but suggested Pyongyang could have orchestrated the outages.

Sony hack: The Interview saga

The Interview features James Franco and Seth Rogen as two journalists granted an audience with Mr Kim. The CIA then enlists the pair to assassinate him.

• 22 November: Sony computer systems hacked, exposing embarrassing emails and personal details about stars
• 7 December: North Korea denies accusations that it is behind the cyber-attack, but praises it as a "righteous deed"
• 16 December: "Guardians of Peace" hacker group threatens 9/11-type attack on cinemas showing film; New York premiere cancelled
• 17 December: Leading US cinema groups say they will not screen film; Sony cancels Christmas Day release
• 19 December: FBI concludes North Korea orchestrated hack; President Obama calls Sony cancellation "a mistake"
• 20 December: North Korea proposes joint inquiry with US into hacks, rejected by the US
• 22 December: North Korea suffers a severe internet outage
• 23 December: Sony confirms a limited Christmas Day release for The Interview
• 2 January: The US imposes sanctions on North Korea in response to the cyber-attack.

Cyber-wars? - Score : US 1 NK 1 - North Korea suffers severe internet outages - who pulled the plug? -any wild guess? - article

North Korea suffers severe internet outages

North Korea has denied a recent cyber-attack against Sony Pictures

Continue reading the main story

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North Korea has been suffering severe internet outages, with one analyst saying the country's access to the web was entirely cut.

The disruption comes days after the US accused North Korea of being behind a cyber-attack on Sony Pictures.

US President Barack Obama had promised a "proportional" response, though officials would not comment on any US involvement in the current outages.

Analysts said technical problems or a cyber-attack could be to blame.

"For the past 24 hours North Korea's connectivity to the outside world has been progressively getting degraded to the point now that they are totally offline," said Doug Madory of internet analysis company Dyn Research.

Arbor Networks, an internet technology service, said it had detected denial-of-service attacks against North Korea's infrastructure beginning on Saturday.

Only a small proportion of people have access to the internet in North Korea, one of the world's most secretive countries.

Film pulled

Last week, the US government said an FBI investigation had shown that North Korea was behind a hacking attack on Sony, which led to unreleased films and private emails being leaked online. North Korea denied being responsible.

But North Korea also praised the attack on Sony, and had for months condemned a Sony comedy, The Interview, which depicts the assassination of the North Korean leader. Sony eventually cancelled the cinema release of the film.

Mr Obama had said that the US would respond to the attack on Sony "in a place and time and manner that we choose".

On Monday, state department spokeswoman Marie Harf said the US would not discuss publicly "operational details about the possible response options, or comment on those kind of reports in any way, except to say that as we implement our responses, some will be seen, some may not be seen''.

The internet disruption came as the UN Security Council discussed North Korea's human rights for the first time, despite opposition from China and Russia.

US ambassador to the UN Samantha Power dismissed North Korea's demand to launch a joint investigation with the US into the attack on Sony, and threats to retaliate if the US refused.

"It is exactly the kind of behaviour we have come to expect from a regime that threatened to take 'merciless countermeasures' against the US over a Hollywood comedy, and has no qualms about holding tens of thousands of people in harrowing gulags," she said.

North Korean diplomat Kim Song said a decision on how to respond to the Security Council's move would be made in Pyongyang. "We totally reject the decision to bring DPRK [North Korea's] human rights record to the UN Security Council," he told Reuters.

North Korean officials visit salon over Kim Jong-un 'bad hair' advert - pics

North Korean officials visit salon over Kim Jong-un 'bad hair' advert

The poster has become a tourist attraction, the salon claimed

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North Korean officials paid a visit to a London hair salon to question why it had used their leader Kim Jong-un's picture in a poster offering haircuts.

The poster in M&M Hair Academy in South Ealing featured the words "Bad Hair Day?" below the leader's picture.

Barber Karim Nabbach said embassy officials were shown the door and the salon's manager spoke to the police.

The Met Police said: "We have spoken to all parties involved and no offence has been disclosed."

The salon put up the poster on 9 April and the next day two men claiming to be officials from the North Korean embassy visited the salon and demanded to meet the manager, Mo Nabbach.

Karim Nabbach said: "We put up posters for an offer for men's hair cuts through the month of April. Obviously in the current news there has been this story that North Korean men are only allowed one haircut.

"We didn't realise but the North Korean embassy is a 10-minute walk from the salon. The next day we had North Korean officials pop into the salon asking to speak to the manager.

"He said 'listen this isn't North Korea, this is England, we live in a democracy so I'm afraid you're going to have to get out of my salon'."

The manager later informed the police about the visit by the North Koreans and he was told the embassy had also contacted officers.

Karim Nabbach said the advert was "cheeky"

"We haven't had any trouble since then, if anything the poster has become a tourist attraction," Karim Nabbach said.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's PM programme, he added: "A lot of our loyal clients found it hilarious and people on the street came in and complimented us on it and it drew in a little bit of business.

"No-one asked for the 'Un'.

"It was never intended to be a political statement, it's all tongue-in-cheek. We were just using it as a cheeky ad campaign."

Last month it was reported by Radio Free Asia that male university students in North Korea were now required to get the same haircut as their leader.