Trump inherits secret cyberwar with North Korea

[TomSea]

Trump inherits secret cyberwar with North Korea

 By David E. Sanger and William J. Broad New York Times  March 04, 2017

WASHINGTON — Three years ago, President Obama ordered Pentagon officials to step up their cyber and electronic strikes against North Korea’s missile program in hopes of sabotaging test launches in their opening seconds.

Soon, a large number of the North’s military rockets began to explode, veer off course, disintegrate in midair, and plunge into the sea. Advocates of such efforts say they believe that targeted attacks gave US antimissile defenses a new edge and delayed by several years the day when North Korea will be able to threaten US cities with nuclear weapons launched on intercontinental ballistic missiles.

But other experts have grown increasingly skeptical of the new approach, arguing that manufacturing errors, disgruntled insiders, and sheer incompetence can also send missiles awry. In the past eight months, they note, the North has managed to successfully launch three medium-range rockets. And Kim Jong Un, the North Korean leader, now claims his country is in “the final stage in preparations” for the inaugural test of intercontinental missiles — perhaps a bluff, perhaps not.

Continued: https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/world/2017/03/04/trump-inherits-secret-cyberwar-with-north-korea/PB6oG5dETFb4S6LU5KJiiI/story.html