North Korean Central News Agency server logs protected by client-side JavaScript

http://pp19dd.com/2013/11/north-korean-central-news-agency-kcna-server-logs-were-protected-by-client-side-javascript/

by _ojqy • 13 years ago

40 30 13 years ago

pp19dd.com

NKCSS• 13 years ago

Funny find, but who cares? It's stated as if there would be repercussions for reading the KCNA website?

spodek• 13 years ago

Hacker News loves North Korea.

It can't get enough of the place.

retube• 13 years ago

is www.reddit.com/r/pyongyang satire? Have never been sure...

duiker101• 13 years ago

The articles are not but the comments are.

thibauts• 13 years ago

Congratulations, you got the sysadmin executed.

lignuist• 13 years ago

Let's hope they have no version control history...

Rantenki• 13 years ago

Sadly, that might lead to the entire development team getting executed.

dominotw• 13 years ago

Its usually three generations not just the person responsible, from what I read.

consonants• 13 years ago

Yup, a whole lineage is either dead or in a prison camp for making a mockery of Juche networking.

pothibo4• 13 years ago

Someone got sent to the gulags for using javascript in places he shouldn't have. Who said programming wasn't dangerous? :P

mhoad3• 13 years ago

I say this as a bit of a closet NK watcher and as someone who visited DPRK back in August but in all likely hood there most likely were / will be very very real and unfortunate consequences for whoever was responsible for this. I'm trying very hard not to do the moral high horse thing but maybe chill out on the jokes a bit?

pothibo4• 13 years ago

I think that jokes and seriousness are not mutually exclusive.

I made a small joke at the end of my comment not because I thought sending someone to the gulag is funny, but because speaking of serious stuff doesn't need to be all dark and serious, if you know what I mean.

Never been to NK but from what I read, it seems like we would have made the world a favor if we'd invaded NK instead of Iraq (I know it's not practical and NK's invasion would be much, much harder than Iraq).

mhoad3• 13 years ago

It's fine, it's just the nature of reading words on a screen with no other context. I don't disagree with your sentiment at all I guess the thought of this turning into a complete "look how stupid they are haha" thread made me slightly uneasy is all.

shubb2• 13 years ago

Regarding your last paragraph, the operation plans for conflict with north korea are sumarized on wikipedia.

They essentially predict the north of south korea would be overrun, following artillary bombardment around the border / later Seol.

Then the remaining south must hold until marines from the mainland US and Japan can arrive, and then there would be a long and costly war to push back into NK (which the US would win, providing public oppinion held).

There is some evidence that in that sort of situation, China would invade North Korea, taking the northern third of the country. This could help the US, or create wider conflict, depending on how it played out.

Iraq and Afganistan were not wars on the same scale as Vietnam or WW2. NK probably would be. We can all hope it doesn't happen.

_ojqy• 13 years ago

Agreed, there is a serious tone here that people should take in understanding how NK conducts itself. My interest here was just the data and a sincere explanation that there was no hacking involved or needed.

Purpose of this wasn't to mock. It was to show that the world really did pay attention to NK. Kim Jong Il dying was a big thing. Guessing it made some people hopeful, some nervous. What's probably sure is that the nuclear test definitely made people nervous. With this data, measurably so.

In my job I regularly evaluate whether to publish something, and it's never a light decision. Though this is a private item, I sat on it for a year and debated posting it monthly. Dozens of edits later, and the data kept nagging at me - so it's now out and done.

mhoad3• 13 years ago

I don't mean this in some passive aggressive way at all but I was genuinely curious to hear your thoughts on why publish this at all. It's interesting data though for sure, I will give you that :)

leoc2• 13 years ago

I still can't see a sufficient justification for this. Even though it's far from clear that the DPRK would care enough about this to drop the big hammer on someone at KCNA (and of course their extended family) over it, I don't see why the risk is worth taking.

eonil• 13 years ago

This is a feature, not a bug. There's no concept of privacy in NK.

willbill• 13 years ago

If you want to learn about NK read "Nothing to Envy" by Barbara Demick. Interviews with refugees.

ToastyMallows• 13 years ago

I'm almost finished with this book. GREAT read, I recommend it to anyone that wants to learn about North Korea.

BrandonMarc2• 13 years ago

This post - The Story of Oh - is another great one to read: http://pjmedia.com/richardfernandez/2012/07/16/the-story-of-...

Oh Kil-nam is a South Korean man who received his PhD in Germany, decided to defect there with his wife and two children in 1986.

Read the story, is all I can say.

ansgri• 13 years ago

Also, Escape from Camp 14 by Blaine Harden.

North Korean Central News Agency server logs protected by client-side JavaScript

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