Russia Throws North Korea a Cyber Lifeline

Russia has thrown North Korea a cyber lifeline by providing Kim Jong Un's regime with a new internet connection, according to CNN.

This comes amid rising tensions with the U.S. and pressure on China to sever business ties with North Korea.

Up to this point, North Korean internet users have been funnelled via a sole link provided by Chinese telecommunications firm, China Unicom.

However, a new internet connection from TransTeleCom appeared Sunday.

Doug Madory, who analyzes global internet connectivity at Dyn Research, said per North Korea monitoring project 38 North that the addition of "Russian transit would create new internet path out of the country, increasing its resilience and international bandwidth capacity."

TransTeleCom has not confirmed any new routing deal with the North Korean government, CNBC noted, but in a statement it said "TransTeleCom has historically had a junction of trunk networks with North Korea under an agreement with Korea Posts and Telecommunications Corp signed in 2009."

News of a new internet connection comes shortly after The Washington Post released a report detailing how the U.S. Cyber Command targeted hackers in North Korea’s military spy agency and chocked off their internet access by barraging their computer servers with traffic.

North Korea is believed to have driven various high-profile cyberattacks recently, targeting prominent financial institutions as well as Sony Pictures, CNN reported.

According to Reuters, North Korea’s limited internet access spans to just over 1,000 connections and is important for coordinating the country’s cyberattacks.

The Russian internet connection could enhance North Korea's ability to command future cyberattacks, according to Bryce Boland, chief technology officer for the Asia-Pacific region at FireEye, a cyber-security company, Reuters said.

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