Transtelecom has become the second Internet provider in the DPRK

North Korea received a second connection to the Internet thanks to a cable laid by the Russian company Transtelecom. Bloomberg reports this with reference to data from FireEye, a cybersecurity company.

The opening of a second communication channel for the DPRK was announced on Monday by Bryce Boland, technical director of FireEye in the Asia-Pacific region. According to him, previously the only provider in the country that provided Internet access was the Chinese state-owned company China United Network Communications. Thus, Boland confirmed the information of the portal 38 North , published on October 1.

"This is good news if you're in Pyongyang and you're using the Internet to attack other countries. You've now got increased robustness and increased bandwidth for your operations," Boland said, referring to the numerous allegations of cyberattacks being leveled against hackers in China. North Korea.

According to Boland, connecting through Russia will give North Korea additional opportunities and create difficulties for the United States, which will now not be able to deprive the country of Internet access by applying pressure on China. For Russia, the appearance of such a channel will allow them to see North Korean network traffic and understand what the DPRK represents.

The press service of Transtelecom told TJ that the company “historically has a junction of backbone communication networks with North Korea under an agreement with Korea Posts and Telecommunications Corp, which was concluded in 2009.”

According to official data, Transtelecom is a subsidiary of Russian Railways and is one of the five largest Russian providers. The company owns a fiber-optic network along railways from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok.