North Korea: The Cyber Wild Card

This article by Rhea Siers assesses North Korea as a cyber threat, arguing that Pyongyang's cyber weapons may deserve as much concern as its nuclear arsenal. Writing largely before the Sony Pictures attack was publicly attributed to North Korea, Siers reviews North Korea's earlier cyber operations against South Korean security-research institutions and Hewlett Packard's subsequent analysis of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's cyber apparatus and capabilities. The piece frames the central question as whether North Korea views cyberattacks against United States economic and business institutions as a viable and destructive weapon, and argues that North Korea's motivations must be carefully weighed against those of other state actors before that question can be answered.