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North Koreans Are Jailbreaking Phones to Access Forbidden Media

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Andy Greenberg

Security
Apr 27, 2022 9:00 AM

North Koreans Are Jailbreaking Phones to Access Forbidden Media

A new report suggests that a small but vibrant group of smartphone
hackers may be challenging the world's most digitally restrictive
regime.

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A person looks at a mobile phone as he waits to cross a street in
Pyongyang North Korea
Photograph: ED JONES/Getty Images

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For most of the world, the common practice of "rooting" or
"jailbreaking" a phone allows the device's owner to install apps and
software tweaks that break the restrictions of Apple's or Google's
operating systems. For a growing number of North Koreans, on the
other hand, the same form of hacking allows them to break out of a
far more expansive system of control--one that seeks to extend to
every aspect of their lives and minds.

[andy_green]
Andy Greenberg is a senior writer for WIRED, covering security,
privacy, and information freedom. He's the author of the forthcoming
book Tracers in the Dark: The Global Hunt for the Crime Lords of
Cryptocurrency. His last book was [*Sandworm: A New Era of Cyberwar
and the Hunt for the Kremlin's... Read more
Senior Writer

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Topicsnorth koreahacking
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