Tag Archives: North Korea

Symantec says ‘highly likely’ North Korea group behind ransomware attacks

A screenshot shows a WannaCry ransomware demand, provided by cyber security firm Symantec, in Mountain View, California, U.S. May 15, 2017. Courtesy of Symantec/Handout via REUTERS

By Joseph Menn

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Cyber security firm Symantec Corp <SYMC.O> said on Monday it was “highly likely” a hacking group affiliated with North Korea was behind the WannaCry cyber attack this month that infected more than 300,000 computers worldwide and disrupted hospitals, banks and schools across the globe.

Symantec researchers said they had found multiple instances of code that had been used both in the North Korea-linked group’s previous activity and in early versions of WannaCry.

In addition, the same Internet connection was used to install an early version of WannaCry on two computers and to communicate with a tool that destroyed files at Sony Pictures Entertainment. The U.S. government and private companies have accused North Korea in the 2014 Sony attack.

North Korea has routinely denied any such role. On Monday, it called earlier reports that it might have been behind the WannaCry attack “a dirty and despicable smear campaign.”

Lazarus is the name many security companies have given to the hacking group behind the Sony attack and others. By custom, Symantec does not attribute cyber campaigns directly to governments, but its researchers did not dispute the common belief that Lazarus works for North Korea.

In a blog post, Symantec listed numerous links between Lazarus and software the group had left behind after launching an earlier, less virulent, version of the malware in February. One was a variant of software used to wipe disks during the Sony Pictures attack, while another tool used the same internet addresses as two other pieces of malware linked to Lazarus.

At the same time, flaws in the WannaCry code, its wide spread, and its demands for payment in the electronic bitcoin before files are decrypted suggest that the hackers were not working for North Korean government objectives in this case, said Vikram Thakur, Symantec’s security response technical director.

“Our confidence is very high that this is the work of people associated with the Lazarus Group, because they had to have source code access,” Thakur said in an interview.

But he added: “We don’t think that this is an operation run by a nation-state.”

With WannaCry, Thakur said, Lazarus Group members could have been moonlighting to make extra money, or they could have left government service, or they could have been contractors without direct obligations to serve only the government.

The most effective version of WannaCry spread by using a flaw in Microsoft’s Windows and a program that took advantage of it that had been used by the U.S. National Security Agency, officials said privately.

That program was among a batch leaked or stolen and then dumped online by a group calling itself The Shadow Brokers, who some in U.S. intelligence believe to be affiliated with Russia.

Analysts have been weighing in with various theories on the identity of those behind WannaCry, and some early evidence had pointed to North Korea. The Shadow Brokers endorsed that theory, perhaps to take heat off their own government backers for the disaster.

Cybersecurity company Kaspersky has said it had found several similarities between the WannaCry malware from the earlier attack and those used by Lazarus. But in an interview last week, its Asia research director, Vitaly Kamluk, said it was not conclusive evidence. “It’s unusual,” he said.

Beau Woods, deputy director of the Cyber Statecraft Initiative at the Atlantic Council, said that the Korean language used in some versions of the WannaCry ransom note was not that of a native speaker, making a Lazarus connection unlikely.

But Thakur said that some hackers deliberately obfuscate their language to make tracing them harder. It is also possible that the writer in question was a contractor in another country, he said.

Thakur said a less likely scenario is that Lazarus’ main aim was to create chaos by distributing WannaCry.

If the hackers’ main objective was to earn money on the side, that would suggest an undisciplined hacking operation run by North Korea, one that could be exploited and weakened by the country’s many foes.

“The intelligence community will probably take away from this that there is a possibility of splinters in the Lazarus Group, or members who are interested in filling their own pockets, and that could help,” Thakur said.

Lazarus has also been linked to attacks on banks using their SWIFT messaging network. Last year, hackers stole $81 million from Bangladesh’s central bank. Symantec said malware used in that attack was linked to Lazarus.

(Reporting by Joseph Menn, Dustin Volz, Jeremy Wagstaff and Ju-Min Park; Editing by Chris Reese, Mary Milliken and Raju Gopalakrishnan)

North Korea says missile ready for mass production, U.S. questions progress

The scene of the intermediate-range ballistic missile Pukguksong-2's launch test. KCNA/via REUTERS

By Ju-min Park and Phil Stewart

SEOUL/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – North Korea said on Monday it successfully tested what it called an intermediate-range ballistic missile, which met all technical requirements and could now be mass-produced, although U.S. officials and experts questioned the extent of its progress.

The United States, which has condemned repeated North Korean missile launches, said Sunday’s launch of what North Korea dubbed the Pukguksong-2 was of a “medium-range” missile, and U.S.-based experts doubted the reliability of the relatively new solid-fuel type after so few tests.

U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the test did not demonstrate a new capability, or one that could threaten the United States directly. But the test was North Korea’s second in a week and South Korea’s new liberal government said it dashed its hopes for peace.

U.S. officials have been far less sanguine about the test of a long-range KN-17, or Hwasong-12, missile just over a week ago, which U.S. officials believe survived re-entry to some degree.

North Korea said that launch tested the capability to carry a “large-size heavy nuclear warhead” and put the U.S. mainland within “sighting range.”

Western experts say the Hwasong-12 test did appear to have advanced North Korea’s aim of developing an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching the U.S. mainland, even if it is still some way off from achieving that capability.

The U.N. Security Council is due to meet on Tuesday behind closed doors to discuss Sunday’s test, which defies Security Council resolutions and sanctions. The meeting was called at the request of the United States, Japan and South Korea.

Washington has been trying to persuade China to agree to new sanctions on North Korea, which has conducted dozens of missile firings and tested two nuclear bombs since the start of last year.

U.S. President Donald Trump has warned that a “major, major conflict” with North Korea is possible over its weapons programs, although U.S. officials say tougher sanctions, not military force, are the preferred option.

North Korea’s state news agency, KCNA, said the latest missile test was supervised by leader Kim Jong Un and verified the reliability of Pukguksong-2’s solid-fuel engine, stage separation and late-stage guidance for a nuclear warhead. It said data was recorded by a device mounted on the warhead.

‘PRIDE’

“Saying with pride that the missile’s rate of hits is very accurate and Pukguksong-2 is a successful strategic weapon, he (Kim) approved the deployment of this weapon system for action,” KCNA said.

“Now that its tactical and technical data met the requirements of the Party, this type of missile should be rapidly mass-produced in a serial way …, he said.”

KCNA said Kim was able to view the Earth from a camera mounted on the missile. “Supreme leader Kim Jong Un said it feels grand to look at the Earth from the rocket we launched and the entire world looks so beautiful,” KCNA said.

South Korea’s military said the missile flew about 500 km (310 miles), reaching an altitude of 560 km (350 miles).

It said the test would have provided more “meaningful data” for North Korea’s missile program, but further analysis was necessary to determine whether Pyongyang had mastered the technology needed to stop the warhead burning up on re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere.

U.S.-based experts said the Pukguksong-2 would have a maximum range of about 1,500 km (930 miles) and questioned North Korea’s assertion that the reliability of the solid-fuel missile had been proven, given limited testing.

“Entering mass production this early in the development phase is risky, but perhaps a risk North Korea feels comfortable managing,” said Michael Elleman of the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

Jeffrey Lewis, of the California-based Middlebury Institute of International Studies, said North Korea would probably continue to test the missile after deployment, fixing flaws as they emerged.

The use of solid fuel presents advantages for weapons because it is more stable and can be transported easily allowing for a launch at very short notice from mobile launchers.

Developing longer-range solid fuel missiles, however, was highly complicated and would “take time, lots of it,” Elleman said.

John Schilling, a missile expert contributing to Washington’s 38 North think tank, estimated it would take until at least 2020 for North Korea to be able to develop an ICBM capable of reaching the U.S. mainland and until 2025 for one powered by solid fuel.

North Korea’s current missiles already pose a threat to South Korea and Japan and the tens of thousands of U.S. troops based in both countries.

Daniel Russel, Washington’s former top diplomat for Asia, said Pyongyang’s aim appeared to be to convince the United States and the rest of the world of the need to accept North Korea as a nuclear-armed state.

“The intended message to the United States is that your pressure campaign won’t work and we’ll see your sanctions and raise you yet another advance in our ballistic missile program,” Russel, now diplomat in residence at the Asia Society Policy Institute, told Reuters.

On Sunday U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson termed North Korea’s missile testing “disappointing, disturbing” and said economic and diplomatic pressure would continue.

Japan’s chief Cabinet secretary, Yoshihide Suga, said on Monday it was important to cut North Korea’s foreign currency earnings and to block shipments and technology transfers that aid North Korea’s nuclear missile development.

China repeated its call for all parties to exercise restraint and not let tension mount further.

(Additional reporting by Kaori Kaneko in Tokyo, Ben Blanchard in Beijing and David Brunnstrom and Matt Spetalnick in Washington; Editing by Peter Cooney and James Dalgleish)

Exclusive: U.S., Japanese firms collaborating on new missile defense radars – sources

FILE PHOTO: Logos of Mitsubishi Electric Corp are seen at a news conference at the company's headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, May 23, 2016. REUTERS/Toru Hanai/File Photo

By Tim Kelly and Nobuhiro Kubo

TOKYO (Reuters) – Raytheon Co and Lockheed Martin Corp are working with Japanese partners on rival projects to develop new radars that will enhance Japan’s shield against any North Korean missile strike, government and defense industry sources in Tokyo told Reuters.

As nuclear-armed Pyongyang builds ever more advanced missiles with the ability to strike anywhere in Japan, Tokyo is likely to fund a ground version of the ship-based Aegis defense system deployed on warships in the Sea of Japan, other sources had said earlier.

Raytheon is allied with Mitsubishi Electric Corp on the project while Lockheed is working with Fujitsu Ltd. The intent is to extend the range of Japan’s detection and targeting radars multiple times beyond range of models currently deployed at sea, the five government and industry sources said.

“Japan’s government is very interested in acquiring this capability,” said one of the sources with knowledge of the radar plans. The sources asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

“Japan wants to have Aegis Ashore operational by 2023 at the latest,” said another of the sources.

Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and Mitsubishi Electric declined comment, while Fujitsu did not respond to requests for comment.

A spokesman for Japan’s Ministry of Defense said Tokyo did not currently have any concrete plans to collaborate with the United States on Aegis radars. “It is not our place to discuss the activities of corporations,” the spokesman added.

The proposed Aegis Ashore radars would be variants of models already developed by Raytheon and Lockheed, the sources said. They would include components using gallium nitride, an advanced material fabricated separately by Mitsubishi Electric and Fujitsu that can amplify power far more efficiently than conventional silicon-based semiconductors.

Nuclear-capable North Korea has a fast accelerating missile development program and Japanese officials have been worried that its ballistic missile defenses (BMD) could be overwhelmed by swarm attacks or be circumvented by warheads launched on lofted trajectories.

In the latest snub to demands it end its weapons program, North Korea on Sunday fired what it described as a intermediate-range ballistic missile that flew about 500 km (311 miles), falling into waters off its east coast.

It had tested another missile the previous Sunday. North Korea said that launch tested the capability to carry a “large-size heavy nuclear warhead” and put the U.S. mainland within “sighting range.”

Japan would likely need three Aegis Ashore batteries to cover the whole country, each of which would cost around $700 million without missiles, one of the sources said.

EXPORT

The idea is that such systems could eventually be sold to the U.S. or other militaries, representing a second chance for Japan to break into global arms markets after a failed bid last year to sell Australia a fleet of submarines in what Tokyo had hoped would spur military exports.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe ended a decades-old ban on arms exports in 2014 to help beef up the nation’s military and lower the unit cost of home-built military equipment but Japan’s long-isolated defense companies have so far had scant success winning business overseas.

“Rather than a fully engineered submarine or other platform, the best way Japan can win export deals is to get Japanese components and technology integrated into U.S. equipment,” another of the sources said.

Japan is expected to make a final decision to acquire a ground-based Aegis system this year. It has also looked at buying THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense), which would add a third layer of defense between Aegis and Japan’s last line of defense PAC-3 Patriot missiles, to counter the North Korean threat.

Each THAAD battery, which come with missiles already loaded, costs around $1 billion.

Using either THAAD or beefed up Aegis radars could, however, anger China, which is already upset that THAAD batteries recently deployed in South Korea can peer deep beyond its border.

(Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)

South Korea fires at suspected drone at border with North amid missile crisis

Ballistic rocket is seen launching during a drill by the Hwasong artillery units of the KPA Strategic Force, July 2016. KCNA/via REUTERS

By Ju-min Park and Christine Kim

SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea’s military fired warning shots at a suspected drone from North Korea on Tuesday amid tension over Pyongyang’s latest missile test which drew international condemnation and a warning from China.

The identity of the object remained unclear, the military said, but Yonhap news agency said it was possibly a drone, more than 90 shots were fired in return and it disappeared from radar screens.

The incursion came with tension already high on the Korean peninsula after the North’s test-launch of a ballistic missile test on Sunday which Pyongyang said proved advances in its pursuit of building a nuclear-tipped weapon that can hit U.S. targets.

The United States has been trying to persuade China, North Korea’s lone major ally, to do more to rein in North Korea, which has conducted dozens of missile launches and tested two nuclear bombs since the start of last year, in defiance of U.N. Security Council sanctions and resolutions.

The North has made no secret of its plans to develop a missile capable of striking the United States and has ignored calls to halt its weapons programs, even from China. It says the program is necessary to counter U.S. aggression.

“We urge North Korea to not do anything to again violate U.N. Security Council resolutions,” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in a statement posted on the Foreign Ministry’s website on Tuesday.

“At the same time, we hope all parties can maintain restraint, not be influenced by every single incident, …persist in carrying out Security Council resolutions on North Korea and persevere with the resolution of the issue through peaceful means, dialogue and consultation.”

Wang was responding to reporters’ questions on Monday while in Ivory Coast, according to the statement.

The North’s official KCNA news agency, citing the spokesman for the foreign ministry, said the country had “substantially displayed” the capabilities for mounting a nuclear attack on Hawaii and Alaska and had built full capabilities for attacking the U.S. mainland.

U.S. and South Korean officials and experts believe the North is several years away from having such a capability.

North Korea said on Monday that Sunday’s launch met all technical requirements that could allow mass-production of the missile, which it calls the Pukguksong-2.

The test was North Korea’s second in a week and South Korea’s new liberal government said it dashed its hopes for peace on the peninsula.

The U.N. Security Council condemned the launch and again expressed its concern over the North’s behavior. The Security Council is due to meet behind closed doors later on Tuesday.

North Korea’s recent missile tests were a legitimate act of self-defense by a “fully-fledged nuclear power”, North Korean diplomat Ju Yong Chol told the U.N. Conference on Disarmament in Geneva on Tuesday.

“It is the United States’ hostile policy and its aggressive joint military drills, nuclear threats and military build-up around the Korean peninsula that really aggravates the situation on the Korean peninsula and the region and which compels the DPRK to also up its nuclear deterrence,” he said.

DPRK are the initials for the North’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Ju was the only speaker at the forum who did not begin his remarks by offering condolences to Britain for the victims of Monday night’s bomb attack at a concert in Manchester.

The South Korean military did not say if the unidentified object was hit by the warning shots on Tuesday, but it disappeared from military radar.

North Korea has previously sent drones into South Korean airspace, with some crashing. In January 2016, South Korea fired warning shots at a suspected drone which turned back.

U.S. President Donald Trump has warned that a “major, major conflict” with North Korea is possible over its weapons programs, although U.S. officials say tougher sanctions, not military force, are the preferred option to counter the North Korean threat.

(Additional reporting by Michael Martina in Beijing and Tom Miles in Geneva; Editing by Nick Macfie and Jack Kim)

North Korea says missile ready for mass-production, U.S. questions progress

The scene of the intermediate-range ballistic missile

By Ju-min Park and Phil Stewart

SEOUL/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – North Korea said on Monday it successfully tested what it called an intermediate-range ballistic missile, which met all technical requirements and could now be mass-produced, although U.S. officials and experts questioned the extent of its progress.

The United States, which has condemned repeated North Korean missile launches, said Sunday’s launch of what North Korea dubbed the Pukguksong-2 was of a “medium-range” missile, and U.S.-based experts doubted the reliability of the relatively new solid-fuel type after so few tests.

U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the test did not demonstrate a new capability, or one that could threaten the United States directly. But the test was North Korea’s second in a week and South Korea’s new liberal government said it dashed its hopes for peace.

U.S. officials have been far less sanguine about the test of a long-range KN-17, or Hwasong-12, missile just over a week ago, which U.S. officials believe survived re-entry to some degree.

North Korea said that launch tested the capability to carry a “large-size heavy nuclear warhead” and put the U.S. mainland within “sighting range.”

Western experts say that test did appear to have advanced North Korea’s aim of developing an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching the U.S. mainland, even if it is still some way off from achieving that capability.

The U.N. Security Council is due to meet on Tuesday behind closed doors to discuss the latest test, which defies Security Council resolutions and sanctions. The meeting was called at the request of the United States, Japan and South Korea.

Washington has been trying to persuade China to agree to new sanctions on North Korea, which has conducted dozens of missile firings and tested two nuclear bombs since the start of last year.

U.S. President Donald Trump has warned that a “major, major conflict” with North Korea is possible over its weapons programs, although U.S. officials say tougher sanctions, not military force, are the preferred option.

North Korea’s state news agency, KCNA, said the latest missile test was supervised by leader Kim Jong Un and verified the reliability of Pukguksong-2’s solid-fuel engine, stage separation and late-stage guidance for a nuclear warhead. It said data was recorded by a device mounted on the warhead.

‘PRIDE’

“Saying with pride that the missile’s rate of hits is very accurate and Pukguksong-2 is a successful strategic weapon, he (Kim) approved the deployment of this weapon system for action,” KCNA said.

“Now that its tactical and technical data met the requirements of the Party, this type of missile should be rapidly mass-produced in a serial way … he said.”

KCNA said Kim was able to view the Earth from a camera mounted on the missile. “Supreme leader Kim Jong Un said it feels grand to look at the Earth from the rocket we launched and the entire world looks so beautiful,” KCNA said.

South Korea’s military said the missile flew about 500 km (310 miles), reaching an altitude of 560 km (350 miles).

The South’s military said the test would have provided more “meaningful data” for North Korea’s missile program, but further analysis was needed to determine whether Pyongyang had mastered the technology needed to stop the warhead burning up on re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere.

U.S.-based experts said it would have a maximum range of about 1,500 km (930 miles) and questioned North Korea’s assertion that the reliability of the solid-fuel missile had been proven, given limited testing.

“Entering mass production this early in the development phase is risky, but perhaps a risk North Korea feels comfortable managing,” said Michael Elleman of the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

Jeffrey Lewis, of the California-based Middlebury Institute of International Studies, said North Korea would probably continue to test the missile after deployment, fixing flaws as they emerged.

The use of solid fuel presents advantages for weapons because it is more stable and can be transported easily allowing for a launch at very short notice from mobile launchers.

Developing longer-range solid fuel missiles was a highly complicated and would “take time, lots of it,” Elleman said, but North Korea’s solid fuel missiles pose a threat to South Korea and Japan and the tens of thousands of U.S. troops based in both countries.

On Sunday U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson termed North Korea’s missile testing “disappointing, disturbing” and said economic and diplomatic pressure would continue.

Japan’s chief Cabinet secretary, Yoshihide Suga, said on Monday it was important to cut North Korea’s foreign currency earnings and to block shipments and technology transfers that aid North Korea’s nuclear missile development.

China repeated its call for all parties to exercise restraint and not let tension mount further.

On Monday, South Korea’s Unification Ministry spokesman Lee Duk-haeng said while Seoul would respond firmly to any North Korean “provocations”, “it would not be desirable to have ties between the South and the North severed.”

(Additional reporting by Kaori Kaneko in Tokyo, Ben Blanchard in Beijing and David Brunnstrom and Matt Spetalnick in Washington; Editing by Nick Macfie and Peter Cooney)

U.N.’s North Korea sanctions monitors hit by ‘sustained’ cyber attack

A man types on a computer keyboard in front of the displayed cyber code in this illustration picture

By Michelle Nichols

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – United Nations experts investigating violations of sanctions on North Korea have suffered a “sustained” cyber attack by unknown hackers with “very detailed insight” into their work, according to an email warning seen by Reuters on Monday.

The hackers eventually breached the computer of one of the experts on May 8, the chair of the panel of experts wrote in an email to U.N. officials and the U.N. Security Council’s North Korea sanctions committee, known as the 1718 committee.

“The zip file was sent with a highly personalized message which shows the hackers have very detailed insight into the panel’s current investigations structure and working methods,” read the email, which was sent on May 8.

“As a number of 1718 committee members were targeted in a similar fashion in 2016, I am writing to you all to alert you to this heightened risk,” the chair of the panel of experts wrote, describing the attack as part of a “sustained cyber campaign.”

A spokesman for the Italian mission to the United Nations, which chairs the 1718 sanctions committee, said on Friday that a member of the panel of experts had been hacked.

No further details who might be responsible were immediately available.

North Korea’s deputy United Nations envoy said on Friday “it is ridiculous” to link Pyongyang with the hacking of the U.N. panel of experts or the WannaCry “ransomware” cyber attack that started to sweep around the globe more than a week ago.

Cyber security researchers have found technical evidence they said could link North Korea with the WannaCry attack.

Reuters reported on Sunday that North Korea’s main spy agency has a special cell called Unit 180 that is likely to have launched some of its most daring and successful cyber attacks, according to defectors, officials and internet security experts.

The U.N. Security Council first imposed sanctions on North Korea in 2006 and has strengthened the measures in response to the country’s five nuclear bomb tests and two long-range rocket launches. Pyongyang is threatening a sixth nuclear test.

A second email by the U.N. sanctions committee secretary to the 15 Security Council members on May 10 said the U.N. Office of Information and Communications Technology was “conducting an analysis of the affected hard drive.”

“Increased vigilance relating to 1718 Committee-related correspondence is therefore advised until data analysis and related investigations are completed,” the email read.

(Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Alistair Bell)

North Korea says U.S. has to roll back ‘hostile policy’ before talks

FILE PHOTO: A North Korean flag flies on a mast at the Permanent Mission of North Korea in Geneva October 2, 2014. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo

By Michelle Nichols

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – North Korea’s deputy U.N. envoy said on Friday the United States needed to roll back its “hostile policy” toward the country before there could be talks as Washington raised concern that Pyongyang could be producing a chemical used in a nerve agent.

“As everybody knows, the Americans have gestured (toward) dialogue,” North Korea’s deputy U.N. ambassador, Kim In Ryong, told reporters on Friday. “But what is important is not words, but actions.”

“The rolling back of the hostile policy towards DPRK is the prerequisite for solving all the problems in the Korean Peninsula,” he said. “Therefore, the urgent issue to be settled on Korean Peninsula is to put a definite end to the U.S. hostile policy towards DPRK, the root cause of all problems.”

North Korea, also known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), has vowed to develop a missile mounted with a nuclear warhead that can strike the mainland United States, saying the program is necessary to counter U.S. aggression.

U.S. President Donald Trump warned in an interview with Reuters in late April that a “major, major conflict” with North Korea was possible, but said he would prefer a diplomatic outcome to the dispute over its nuclear and missile programs.

Trump later said he would be “honored” to meet the North’s leader, Kim Jong Un, under the right conditions. A U.S. State Department spokesman said the country would have to “cease all its illegal activities and aggressive behavior in the region.”

The U.N. Security Council first imposed sanctions on North Korea in 2006 and has strengthened the measures in response to the country’s five nuclear tests and two long-range rocket launches. Pyongyang is threatening a sixth nuclear test.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley raised concern on Friday about an application by North Korea to patent a process to produce sodium cyanide, which can be used to make the nerve agent Tabun and is also used in the extraction of gold.

“The thought of placing cyanide in the hands of the North Koreans, considering their record on human rights, political prisoners, and assassinations is not only dangerous but defies common sense,” Haley said in a statement.

North Korea submitted the patent application to a U.N. agency, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), for processing. The agency does not grant patents.

U.N. sanctions monitors said they are investigating the case for any violations. Under U.N. sanctions, states are banned from supplying North Korea with sodium cyanide and Pyongyang has to abandon all chemical and biological weapons and programs.

WIPO said in a statement that it has strict procedures to ensure full compliance with U.N. sanctions regimes. It noted that “patent applications are not covered by the provisions of U.N. Security Council Resolutions.”

Haley said: “We urge all U.N. agencies to be transparent and apply the utmost scrutiny when dealing with these types of requests from North Korea and other rogue nations.”

(Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Leslie Adler)

North Korea says linking cyber attacks to Pyongyang is ‘ridiculous’

A screenshot shows a WannaCry ransomware demand, provided by cyber security firm Symantec, in Mountain View, California, U.S. May 15, 2017. Courtesy of Symantec/Handout via REUTERS

By Michelle Nichols

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – North Korea’s deputy United Nations envoy said on Friday “it is ridiculous” to link Pyongyang with the WannaCry “ransomware” cyber attack that started to sweep around the globe a week ago or the hacking of a U.N. expert monitoring sanctions violations.

WannaCry has infected more than 300,000 computers in 150 nations. It threatens to lock out victims who have not paid a ransom within one week of infection. French researchers said on Friday they had found a last-chance way to save encrypted files.

“Relating to the cyber attack, linking to the DPRK, it is ridiculous,” North Korea’s Deputy U.N. Ambassador Kim In Ryong told a news conference when asked if Pyongyang was involved in the global WannaCry attack or the U.N. hack.

North Korea is also known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).

“Whenever something strange happens, it is the stereotype way of the United States and the hostile forces that kick off noisy anti-DPRK campaign deliberately linking with DPRK,” Kim said.

Symantec <SYMC.O> and Kaspersky Lab said on Monday that some code in an earlier version of the WannaCry software had also appeared in programs used by the Lazarus Group, which researchers from many companies have identified as a North Korea-run hacking operation.

A spokesman for the Italian mission to the United Nations, which chairs the U.N. Security Council North Korea sanctions committee, said on Friday that a member of the U.N. panel of experts who monitor sanctions violations had been hacked.

No further details on the extent of the hack or who might be responsible were immediately available.

The U.N. Security Council first imposed sanctions on North Korea in 2006 and has strengthened the measures in response to the country’s five nuclear tests and two long-range rocket launches. Pyongyang is threatening a sixth nuclear test.

(Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Grant McCool)

U.S.: Military solution to North Korea would be ‘tragic on an unbelievable scale’

U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis gestures during a press briefing on the campaign to defeat ISIS at the Pentagon in Washington, U.S., May 19, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas

By Phil Stewart and David Brunnstrom

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Friday that any military solution to the North Korea crisis would be “tragic on an unbelievable scale” and Washington was working internationally to find a diplomatic solution.

North Korea has defied all calls to rein in its nuclear and missile programs, even from China, its lone major ally, calling them legitimate self-defense.

It has been working to develop a nuclear-tipped missile capable of striking the U.S. mainland, and experts say its test on Sunday of a new missile was another important step toward that aim.

“We are going to continue to work the issue,” Mattis told a Pentagon news conference.

“If this goes to a military solution, it’s going to be tragic on an unbelievable scale. So our effort is to work with the U.N., work with China, work with Japan, work with South Korea to try to find a way out of this situation.”

The remarks were one of the clearest indicators yet that President Donald Trump’s administration will seek to exhaust alternatives before turning to military action to force Pyongyang’s hand.

The United States, which has 28,500 troops in South Korea to guard against the North Korean threat, has called on China to do more to rein in its neighbor.

Mattis appeared to defend China’s most recent efforts, even as he acknowledged Pyongyang’s march forward.

“They (North Korea) clearly aren’t listening but there appears to be some impact by the Chinese working here. It’s not obviously perfect when they launch a missile,” Mattis said, when asked about Sunday’s launch.

RE-ENTRY CAPABILITY?

South Korea has said the North’s missile program was progressing faster than expected, with Sunday’s test considered successful in flight.

North Korea said the launch tested the capability to carry a “large-size heavy nuclear warhead,” and its ambassador in Beijing has said that Pyongyang would continue such test launches “any time, any place.”

Mattis acknowledged that Pyongyang had likely learned a great deal from the latest test of what U.S. officials say was a KN-17 missile, which was believed to have survived re-entry to some degree.

“They went to a very high apogee and when it came down obviously from that altitude they probably learned a lot from it. But I’m not willing to characterize it beyond that right now,” Mattis said.

David Wright, co-director and senior scientist at the Global Security Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, the big question was whether North Korea could build a re-entry vehicle for a long-range missile that wouldn’t burn up during re-entry and could keep a warhead from becoming too hot in the process.

“This test in principle gave them a lot of information about this, assuming they had sensors that could send information back during reentry so they could monitor the heat, or they could recover the reentry vehicle and examine it,” he said.

(Additional reporting by Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Cynthia Osterman)