Analysis of the Asymmetrical Relationships between State Actors and APT Threat Groups

Yu Kyung Kim, Jemin Justin Lee, Myong Hyun Go, Kyungho Lee

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

    6 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    During the Cold War era, countries with asymmetrical relationships often demonstrated how lower-tier nation states required the alliance and support from top-tier nation states. This statement no longer stands true as country such as North Korea has exploited global financial institutions through various malware such as WANNACRY V0, V1, V2, evtsys.exe, and BRAMBUL WORM. Top tier nation states such as the U.S. are unable to use diplomatic clout or to retaliate against the deferrer. Our study examined the affidavit filed against the North Korean hacker, Park Jin Hyok, which was provided by the FBI. Our paper focuses on the operations and campaigns that were carried out by the Lazarus Group by focusing on the key factors of the infrastructure and artifacts. Due to the nature of the cyber deterrence, deterrence in the cyber realm is far complex than the nuclear deterrence. We focused on the Sony Picture Entertainment's incident for our study. In this study, we discuss how cyber deterrence can be employed when different nation states share an asymmetrical relationship. Furthermore, we focus on contestability and attribution that is a key factor that makes cyber deterrence difficult.

    Original languageEnglish
    Title of host publicationICTC 2020 - 11th International Conference on ICT Convergence
    Subtitle of host publicationData, Network, and AI in the Age of Untact
    PublisherIEEE Computer Society
    Pages695-700
    Number of pages6
    ISBN (Electronic)9781728167589
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2020 Oct 21
    Event11th International Conference on Information and Communication Technology Convergence, ICTC 2020 - Jeju Island, Korea, Republic of
    Duration: 2020 Oct 212020 Oct 23

    Publication series

    NameInternational Conference on ICT Convergence
    Volume2020-October
    ISSN (Print)2162-1233
    ISSN (Electronic)2162-1241

    Conference

    Conference11th International Conference on Information and Communication Technology Convergence, ICTC 2020
    Country/TerritoryKorea, Republic of
    CityJeju Island
    Period20/10/2120/10/23

    Bibliographical note

    Funding Information:
    This work was supported by Defense Acquisition Program Administration and Agency for Defense Development under the contract (UD190016ED).

    Publisher Copyright:
    © 2020 IEEE.

    Keywords

    • ATTCK
    • Attribution
    • Contestability
    • Cyber Deterrence
    • International Affairs

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Information Systems
    • Computer Networks and Communications

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