The Internet outage, which may have been caused by either an external cyber-attack or power problems, lasted for nine and a half hours. US computer experts remarked that the Internet outages in North Korea began over the weekend and grew progressively worse, the news agency adds.
Washington Post points out that the shutdown occurred following a promise of "proportional response" by US President Barack Obama who named North Korea as the culprit behind a recent hack of Sony Pictures Entertainment. "As we implement our responses, some will be seen, some will not be seen," a US Department of State cited by the newspaper said.
AP reports that numerous denial-of-service cyber-attacks aimed at North Korean infrastructure were detected starting Saturday. Dan Holden, director of security research at
North Korea denies its involvement in the Sony Pictures Entertainment hack which was reportedly carried out in retaliation for 'The Interview' – a satirical comedy by Sony about a plot to assassinate Kim Jong Un. North Korean authorities offered the US to conduct a joint investigation of the Sony hack.
