The US intelligence community is exploring acquiring or developing new technological means of protecting its communication channels prior to the planned meeting between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in June in Singapore, one intelligence source with knowledge of the matter told CNN.
The summit has been subject to some uncertainty in recent weeks, following a North Korean threat to cancel in response to routine military exercises between the US and South Korea. Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae-In spoke on the phone over the weekend and will meet at the White House on Tuesday to “continue their close coordination ahead of President Trump’s June 12 meeting” with Kim, according to a White House news release.
The US has long been aware of North Korea’s prowess in cyberspace. North Korean hackers are believed to be behind or have played a part in major debilitating cyberattacks including the WannaCry ransomware, which infected hundreds of thousands of computers in 2017, as well as the hack of Sony Pictures Entertainment in 2014.
Additionally, private cybersecurity companies have said hacking groups with ties to North Korea have ramped up efforts to pilfer military, technological, political, economic and strategic secrets from companies around the world.
Dmitri Alperovitch, the founder of the company that played a key role in illustrating Russia’s hacking of the Democratic National Committee, Crowdstrike, told the Guardian in February he believed North Korea is an even bigger threat than Russia in cyberspace. However, since the summit was announced, Alperovitch has told CNN he expects that they would not launch an open destructive attack as they’re trying to get the best possible outcome from the talks. Instead, there’s been a return to “traditional espionage” as both sides try to gather intelligence.
