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How the “Kim” dump exposed North Korea's credential theft playbook

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Re: How the “Kim” dump exposed North Korea's credential theft playbook

#171

Post by maxk42 »

hexpeek wrote: post #25

I’ve heard that in North Korea it is difficult for ordinary people to learn or own a computer. It is assumed that a small number of elite operatives are selected and trained to carry out such tasks, and it is somewhat surprising that they possess the latest technology and conduct hacking.

...which explains the link to China. NK natives probably do not typically have access to computers or the open internet, but the children of certain elites are educated in China. There may even be a collaborative effort between the two states.

Re: How the “Kim” dump exposed North Korea's credential theft playbook

#172

Post by Ray20 »

the_af wrote: post #170
Ray20 wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Apparently, due to cultural, political and economical issues, South Korea cannot/won't do this. Because it's not a problem yet. What's going to stop them from doing it when the birth rate becomes a problem? Almost nothing. > Due to the scale of their population collapse, the influx of immigrants would have to be massive. Not really. You are mistakenly extrapolating the situation in the Western world, where purposef…

I'm not "mistakenly extrapolating" anything, I'm describing the current consensus by population experts. No need to debate me, I'm no expert, I'm just paraphrasing what experts believe. I'm as surprised as you are, I only recently learned of this. > What's going to stop them from doing it when the birth rate becomes a problem? Almost nothing Their birth rate is already a massive problem . The South Korean government…

> I'm describing the current consensus by population experts.

These are not experts, they are deep state propagandists.

I mean, fortunately (or unfortunately), such processes have been going on for decades, and these experts have been in business for decades. So, nothing prevents us from analyzing their early models, explanations, projections, and forecasts, and comparing them with reality in order to form an opinion about the level of their expertise

> Their birth rate is already a massive problem.

Not exactly. Low birth rate itself is not a problem. What is a problem is the future consequences of low birth rate . And these consequences generally have not yet occurred, i.e. there is no problem yet.

> Koreans seem unwilling to consider more drastic measures

Yes, because there is no problem yet

> once it reaches the tipping point

Then it will become a problem and nothing will stop them from bringing in some foreign labor to fix it.

> They would need massive immigration to live there

Not that massive. Your ideas about the required amount of immigration to fix the labor shortage problem are probably formed by extrapolating Western immigration processes. But the point is that you can’t extrapolate like that. There are no obstacles to carrying out immigration tens of times more effectively than the West does.

Just to understand how irrelevant this issue is for Korea at the moment: the twentieth century was quite a turbulent time for Koreans, and now quite a lot of ethnic Koreans live outside of Korea. Many of them know the Korean language, want to move to Korea, but even with repatriation programs, this is not such an easy process. Korea has so many Koreans inside the country that they are quite reluctant to grant residence permits even to other Koreans with foreign citizenships.

Re: How the “Kim” dump exposed North Korea's credential theft playbook

#173

Post by alexey-salmin »

Ray20 wrote: post #172
the_af wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not "mistakenly extrapolating" anything, I'm describing the current consensus by population experts. No need to debate me, I'm no expert, I'm just paraphrasing what experts believe. I'm as surprised as you are, I only recently learned of this. > What's going to stop them from doing it when the birth rate becomes a problem? Almost nothing Their birth rate is already a massive problem . The South Korean government…

> I'm describing the current consensus by population experts. These are not experts, they are deep state propagandists. I mean, fortunately (or unfortunately), such processes have been going on for decades, and these experts have been in business for decades. So, nothing prevents us from analyzing their early models, explanations, projections, and forecasts, and comparing them with reality in order to form an opinion…

Time shall tell, but as of today I think this view is delusional. For native Koreans this would do roughly as much good as mass immigration into Americas did to native Indians.

Re: How the “Kim” dump exposed North Korea's credential theft playbook

#174

Post by theshrike79 »

vntok wrote: post #91
Joel_Mckay wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

State sponsored thieves are not a talent pool that anyone wants in a trusted position. The fact is there were only around 40 unique hacks ever invented, and people simply adapt these into new zero day exploits. Notably, this is now mostly a fully automated process. If people want in, they will get in eventually. =3 x C62=:K6 J@F 2C6 AC66>AE:G6=J 5:D28C66:?8 H:E9 E96 DFCAC:D:?8=J =@H 6DE:>2E6 @7 6IA=@:E E2I@?@>J[ 3FE…

ChatGPT decoded the ROT47 text immediately from a simple prompt: "Decode this string sent by some random pompous guy on Hacker News: [raw string]". If robots want in, they will get in eventually too, apparently.

https://gchq.github.io/CyberChef/#recipe=ROT47(47)&input=eCB...

CyberChef did it fully locally with a ready-made recipe :D

Re: How the “Kim” dump exposed North Korea's credential theft playbook

#175

Post by firen777 »

0xDEAFBEAD wrote: post #156
AngryData wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean the US had no problems selling Nazi Germany arms at the start of the war. The US only really took a side after Germany told the US to stop also supplying war materials to their enemies, which Germany viewed as merely prolonging the war and deaths, and when the US ignored them because they were making too much money Germany stopped buying and doubled down on blockading material support to allies.

>I mean the US had no problems selling Nazi Germany arms at the start of the war. This claim doesn't appear to be true: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/1k6yi1z/comm...

It's both frustrating and all too common to see blatant historical falsehood being casually thrown around as if it's well known fact. Doubly frustrating knowing that in order to rebut such falsehood, you have to either do your own lengthy research to find the evidence of __absence__ (which is a lot harder comparing to the evidence of __existence__), or hopefully someone else already did said research and more hopefully you can unbury it from the increasingly enshittified google search.

And by the time you managed it the falsehood already netted a few dozens/hundreds/thousands more victims in the best case scenario where the rebuttal actually managed to attach itself right next to the falsehood.

Regular folks just can't compete with professional disinformation spreaders and their horde of victims.

Re: How the “Kim” dump exposed North Korea's credential theft playbook

#176

Post by 486sx33 »

rikafurude21 wrote: post #157
pphysch wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is this any different from say a Pentagon or IDF employee who is involved (by some degree) in the documented mass murder of civilians? Their livelihoods are also on the line. Are they off the hook because they "choose" to participate in mass murder?

Youre gonna pretend theres no difference between your entire bloodline (literally) or your salary being on the line? If you work at the Pentagon and see mass murder of civilians you have the option to stop going to work. A north korean hacker does not have that option.

[dead]

Re: How the “Kim” dump exposed North Korea's credential theft playbook

#177

Post by JumpCrisscross »

Ray20 wrote: post #163
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> State sponsored thieves are not a talent pool that anyone wants in a trusted position Why? They’re intelligent, crafty and able to make trade-offs. Empirically, ex-spies have a solid history in reaching commanding positions in politics and business.

> Empirically, ex-spies have a solid history in reaching commanding positions in politics and business. But it's not because someone wants them there. It's because they can demand the position they want.

> it's not because someone wants them there. It's because they can demand the position they want

Zero evidence of this. And if they can demand that position from one, they can demand favors from others. I would count a background in espionage to be a net positive in a hiring process, provided dismissal was on good terms.

Re: How the “Kim” dump exposed North Korea's credential theft playbook

#178

Post by mensetmanusman »

pphysch wrote: post #139
rikafurude21 wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would go as far as to say slaves of a dictatorship. Most likely threathened with death, including the hackers' entire family, if they dont follow the line. Considering these factors, how much do you think they actually "support crimes against humanity"? North Koreans filter their students very early on to find the smart ones and teach them hacking in specialized military camps. Whoever this hacker is, he probably h…

How is this any different from say a Pentagon or IDF employee who is involved (by some degree) in the documented mass murder of civilians? Their livelihoods are also on the line. Are they off the hook because they "choose" to participate in mass murder?

It has to do with this concept called free will.

Re: How the “Kim” dump exposed North Korea's credential theft playbook

#179

Post by the_af »

Ray20 wrote: post #172
the_af wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not "mistakenly extrapolating" anything, I'm describing the current consensus by population experts. No need to debate me, I'm no expert, I'm just paraphrasing what experts believe. I'm as surprised as you are, I only recently learned of this. > What's going to stop them from doing it when the birth rate becomes a problem? Almost nothing Their birth rate is already a massive problem . The South Korean government…

> I'm describing the current consensus by population experts. These are not experts, they are deep state propagandists. I mean, fortunately (or unfortunately), such processes have been going on for decades, and these experts have been in business for decades. So, nothing prevents us from analyzing their early models, explanations, projections, and forecasts, and comparing them with reality in order to form an opinion…

> These are not experts, they are deep state propagandists.

Deep state? I feel like I've stepped into a conspiracy theory. What does the deep state have to do with anything? Deep state from which country? The US? Korea?

> Not exactly. Low birth rate itself is not a problem. What is a problem is the future consequences of low birth rate . And these consequences generally have not yet occurred, i.e. there is no problem yet.

Why "not exactly"? It's understood by everyone that low birth rate is a problem because of its rippling effects, which are not immediate. When I say "a massive problem" I mean "already in the near future".

But apparently it's causing problems for young people today, already.

> And these consequences generally have not yet occurred, i.e. there is no problem yet.

South Korean society is already quite unhealthy, and apparently for younger generations even more so.

To be clear: the numbers alone don't tell the full story. Population density is not the important metric here, but population aging is. There could be lots of Koreans today, but if the distribution is top-heavy, it cannot help them.

Let's do something else: link me a serious (non-conspiracy) study that there is no population decline crisis in South Korea, and I'll read it with an open mind. Be forewarned though, if it's a conspiracy article I'll ignore it.

Re: How the “Kim” dump exposed North Korea's credential theft playbook

#180

Post by JumpCrisscross »

Joel_Mckay wrote: post #102
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> State sponsored thieves are not a talent pool that anyone wants in a trusted position Why? They’re intelligent, crafty and able to make trade-offs. Empirically, ex-spies have a solid history in reaching commanding positions in politics and business.

It is complicated, but Moral Development theory does cover the phenomena of why some won't understand until they personally grow through the stages of development. Have a great day. =3 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Kohlberg's_stages_of_...

Spies do tough work for not that much pay. (Certainly less than they can earn in the private sector.)

They’re starting from a position of duty. Given the stakes the questions they’re tasked with operate at, I’d guess they tend to be in the postconventional regime more than most people.

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