North Korea goes offline for 9 hours after cyberattack

North Korea has been confirmed to have gone offline for about nine hours after a possible unprecedented cyberattack on the entire country.

According to Dyn Research, a company that monitors Internet performance around the world, North Korea was offline for 9 hours 31 minutes between December 22 and 23.

This cyber spat is coming at a time the United States (US) and North Korea seem headed for a cyberwar over the release of Sony Pictures movie, The Interview.

An American comic movie produced by Sony pictures, The Interview has a plot woven around the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

The film, which was directed by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, was billed to be released in October, before being postponed to December 25 in order to gain North Korea’s acceptance.

In November, however, Sony pictures was hacked by a group tied to the North Korean government, as revealed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

On the other hand, North Korea denied involvement in the hack, branding the US a pit of terrorism.

“Our toughest counteraction will be boldly taken against the White House, the Pentagon and the whole U.S. mainland, the cesspool of terroris,” it said.

In response to the threats from North Korea, Barack Obama, the US president, said he did not consider it an act of way but cybervandalism.

He urged that Sony pictures go ahead with the release of the movie, which the filming company was planning to shelf.

“CNN has done critical stories about North Korea. What happens if in fact there is a breach in CNN’s cyberspace? Are we going to suddenly say, are we not going to report on North Korea?

“So the key here is not to suggest that Sony was a bad actor. It’s making a broader point that all of us have to adapt to the possibility of cyberattacks, we have to do a lot more to guard against them.”

North Korea continues its struggle to stay online but it is uncertain if the US was responsible for the internet shut down in the country.

Marie Harf, a state department spokeswoman who was questioned on the shutdown, said the country would not discuss the attack but implement responses to it.

“We aren’t going to discuss operational details about the possible response options or comment on those kind of reports in any way, except to say that we implement our responses.”

What would 9 hours 31 minutes of internet shutdown cost a country like North Korea?