turns out, nuclear weapons might not be

North Korea’s most dangerous weapon.

Actually, they probably are,

but this is also concerning.

Hi, welcome to China Uncensored,

I’m your host Chris Chappell.

So you know how everyone’s been freaking out

that North Korea might develop

and launch a nuclear weapon?

Well, it turns out

you don’t need to worry about that.

You need to worry that about North Korea

launching a nuke

and possibly launching

global cyber attacks.

Since you're currently on the internet,

you've probably heard of the massive cyber attack

that began on May 11.

The magnitude of the attack here

is tremendous.

We’re talking 200,000 computers

across 150 different countries

so this is really the biggest cyber shakedown

in history.

The attack is called WannaCry,

which is how I feel every time

I look at the news these days.

Around the world,

university, business, and local government computers

were greeted with this:

Oops!

Your files have been encrypted!

Sorry, it was an honest mistake

the hackers made.

They’ll gladly fix it for you,

if you just pay them $300 in bitcoins.

However if you don’t,

three days later,

the price gets doubled to $600,

and after seven days,

the files are deleted.

It’s a type of attack called ransomware.

Like software, but with ransom.

I’m sure you understand.

Who’s to blame for this outrage?

Well, it might be North Korea.

Cybersecurity firm Symantec and Kaspersky Lab

have identified code in a version

of the WannaCry virus

that is linked to the Lazarus Group.

That's the same group that was behind

the Sony Pictures hack in 2014.

They're also known for stealing 81 million dollars

from Bangladesh's central bank.

And they work for North Korea.

That isn't enough to say this attack

was definitely done by North Korea.

For example,

some experts say this ransomware attack

isn't how North Korean hackers

usually operate.

Or that it's possible that other hackers

just borrowed the code from Lazarus.

Which makes the dark web

sound like the kind of friendly neighborhood

where your next-door hacker can ring your computer

and ask to borrow a cup of code.

The point is,

we don't know for certain that North Korea

is behind WannaCry.

But one good thing that's come out of this

is now people are paying way more attention

to the danger of North Korean cyber attacks,

thanks to the sudden media focus.

Unless you're talking about the focus

of Chinese state-run media.

Which are blaming another country f

or the cyber attacks.

Guess which one?

China Daily says,

“the US National Security Agency

must shoulder some of the blame.”

Oh great,

it involves the NSA.

That's so embarrassing.

My favorite state-run media,

the Global Times, said,

“Many criticized the U.S. government,

saying that it was responsible

for this spread of ransomware.

Obviously this accusation is reasonable.”

Obviously.

Just as reasonable as the People’s Daily

comparing it to the hacking scene in Die Hard 4.

Yes, they did.

How, you ask,

is the NSA responsible

for this cyber attack?

Apparently, the NSA has been exploiting

a flaw in Microsoft Windows for years,

with a hacking tool known as EternalBlue,

which is also how I feel every time

I look at the news.

Apparently, a hacking group called The Shadow Brokers

got their hands on it

and made it public last month.

And that’s how the alleged North Korean hackers

were able to pull this off.

Allegedly.

So, the NSA messed up.

But that’s not the whole story.

Let's back up for a moment

and talk about North Korean hackers.

The reason that hackers like the Lazarus Group

are able to pull off massive cyber attacks

is thanks to decades of training,

Internet access,

and office space

that was given to North Korea by—

you guessed it—

China.

Oops.

Yes, according to North Korean defectors,

China is largely responsible

for the growth of North Korea’s

cyber espionage abilities.

And they learned well.

According to the Korea Institute of Liberal Democracy

in Seoul,

“Today, an elite squad of 6,800 North Korean state hackers

are engaged in fraud, blackmail

and online gambling that together

generate annual revenue of $860 million.”

It’s the only way the poor,

starving leaders of North Korea

can fund themselves

with those mean old sanctions

the UN put on them.

That, plus gunrunning,

jewel smuggling, illegal gambling,

counterfeiting, and dealing drugs

out of its embassies worldwide.

And again, North Korea’s hacking skills

are thanks largely to decades of support

from the Chinese Communist Party.

So it’s ironic that the country

hardest hit by WannaCry—

which, even if not done by North Korea,

definitely used North Korean code—

was China!

I bet he does wanna cry.

The Global Times says

“about 40,000 [Chinese] institutions

have been affected;

of those, 4,000 were academic,

including Tsinghua University

and Peking University.”

So if the Chinese regime

gave so much support and training

to North Korean hackers in the past,

why would North Korea want to cyber attack

the hand that feeds it?

Isn’t that sort of evidence

it might not be North Korea

behind the attack?

Well, not necessarily.

Relations between China and North Korea

are increasingly bitter.

Former Chinese leader

and Super Ghouls and Ghosts wannabe, Jiang Zemin

was awkwardly close

with Kim Jong-Un’s daddy,

but current leaders Xi Jinping and Kim Jong-Un

are not even friends.

They haven’t even had a state visit.

And now Xi Jinping is apparently working

with President Trump,

so I wouldn’t be surprised if Kim

is a bit jealous.

But there could be

other explanations, too:

It could have been a cyber attack

that unexpectedly hit computers in China

in a way that North Korea didn’t intend.

Or it could possibly have not been

North Korea at all.

Either way,

it probably wasn’t a good long-term strategy for China

to be training North Korean hackers.

What do you think about North Korea’s new

weapon,

and the attack on China?

Leave your comments below.

Thanks for watching this episode of China Uncensored.

Once again I’m your host, Chris Chappell,

see you next time.