I've heard of the parasitic state, but this is beyond merely "evil"

A North Korean soldier recently escaped across the DMZ.  He was shot six times by his comrades before he reached safety.  But his new wounds were the least of his troubles:

Along with the bullet wounds, he also had hepatitis B, pneumonia and “an enormous number” of parasitic worms in his intestines, some up to 11 inches long. “I’ve never seen anything like this in my 20 years as a physician,” said his South Korean surgeon. The worms can burrow into fresh wounds, with potentially devastating effects.

And remember, this was a soldier, quite possibly one trusted enough to help guard the Demilitarized Zone.  There's no way he was from an "hostile" caste:

Every one of North Korea’s 23 million people is subject to the brutal state-imposed caste system known as songbun. The word “songbun” should be notorious around the world. From birth, every North Korean is marked by the government as a member of a loyal “core” caste, a “wavering” middle caste or a “hostile” caste, and this designation determines access to food, housing, education, jobs — everything. During the famine of the 1990s, when more than two million North Koreans perished, the songbun system often determined who ate and who starved.

If this is what life is like for him, what is it like for the others?

I'm not calling for war, especially with North Korea.  It's not my place to be judge and executioner.  But it seems to me there are a lot of people in North Korea who deserve to die.  Economic sanctions?  That'll only hurt the innocent.  Assassination?   The people who deserve it are so hard to get, and so well protected.  Perhaps, like the French Resistance, we can air-drop thousands of cheap, one-shot handguns on the territories of the prison farms, momentarily giving some of the victims a chance to fight back.  But it wouldn't hurt the top, and it might trigger a war.

So how about thinking slightly outside of the box?  There has been talk of "ethno-weapons" for several years now, but there isn't enough genetic diversity in the Korean population to target only the monsters.  Could someone develop a weapon that sickens only the well-fed, or the obese?  Or a weapon tailored to a specific target?  In 2012 The Atlantic reported on the progress made in engineering bioweapons tailored to a specific person's DNA.  It seems the US has been collecting the DNA of world leaders for years, and recently Russia has lodged protests at what they claim are American attempts to collect Russian DNA.  If some other stories are true, there is an attempt by the Secret Service to collect and dispose of everything touched by the president, in order to reduce his vulnerability to a tailored attack.  I can't see how that can work, however, even for a germophobe like Trump.

So how about something tailored to Kim Jong Un?  Or his family?  I don't have the capability to do it, but with the availability of genetic technology increasing, and the price dropping, it's probably only a matter of time before some smart kid engineers biological viruses.  Like computer viruses, it may be a problem too pretty to not hack.  And today, governments can already do much, much more.

Again, I'm simply thinking aloud.  Even if I could do it, I wouldn't.  But BioAnonamous, are you listening?

The Parasites Feeding on North Koreans - The New York Times

Hacking the President's DNA 

Anonymous strikes again

Anonymous disrupted the website of the Greek Ministry of Justice late last month.

The message, in greek (of course) is supposed to read something like this (and note that I've taken some liberties to make the translation flow better):

Citizens of Greece

     We are Anonymous.
     We watch every day as your government abolishes the constitution and institutions of the country.
     We see them leading you closer and closer to poverty.
     We see them pass laws that deprive you of any right to dignity.
     We see them deliver the country to the IMF and the bankers.
     We know about the soup kitchens in schools,
     for people who are left jobless and now wait in queues for a plate of food.
     We know that your country voted for ACTA in your effort to silence other Greeks.
     We know everything ...
     The Republic in Greece has died.
     It died with a government that has not been elected by the people.
     And for this reason the time for discussion came and went.
     Not negotiating anything with any of those who murdered it.
     You can hunt as you like, you can even capture some of us,
     But when you attempt to silence us ...
     For every one that will you capture 3 others will spring up. Five or ten or a hundred.
     Now the Greeks are all Anonymous.
     We are millions against you and the 300.  In this war tear gas will not help you.

     To the Occupying Government of Greece
     These days is going to vote for a bill that will be the last nail in the coffin of Greece.
     A bill to return the country to a totalitarian rule.
     To bring the country and its people in absolute poverty.
     We will not allow more misery to the Greek people.
     We demand your resignation immediately, and elections.
     We demand that not a cent be paid to your moneylender 'friends.'
     We demand the immediate withdrawal of the IMF from Greece.
     Justice Department, this is only a small sample of what we're capable of doing.
     You have not seen the full wrath of Anonymous.
     For each article of a bill that would shame the vote,
     we will shut down the system and delete the Internal Revenue debts of Greek citizens.
     Debts which requires them to pay the fascists.
     The demonstrations of the Greeks have had their encounter with incredible violence,
     anexelekta hitting, but the internet is our field. And we love this war.
     We are many and we will be swift.

     Citizens of Greece, Anonymous is now fighting on your side ... 

     Government of Greece, let us wait ...

     E X P E C T  U S !

     J U S T I C E  I S  C O M I N G !

The Greek police announced the arrest of three teenagers for the hack.  But the meme goes on--Anonymous has brought down the MoJ website with a DDoS attack, in retribution for the arrests.

In other news, several members of LulzSec, the group that left Anonymous to follow its own agenda--including the recent hack of Stratfor--have been arrested.  It seems that the FBI was able to get one leader to turn on his buddies.  The organization may be crippled.  That is what happens when you start moving from leaderless resistance to a collection of leaders and followers.

Related articles

• Anonymous Attacks Greek Ministry of Justice Website (ibtimes.com)
• Greece steps up pressure in uncertain bond deal (sfgate.com)
• Greek police is going after three teen Anonymous members (thenextweb.com)
• Greek police say schoolboys behind hacking attack (seattlepi.com)
• Anonymous Hacks Public Intelligence in "Friendly Audit" (publicintelligence.net)
• STRATFOR hacked by Anonymous--and so was I (secureliberty.blogspot.com)
• Anonymous Take Down Greek Ministry of Justice Site (techfleece.com)
• Do You Like Online Privacy? You May Be a Terrorist (publicintelligence.net)

STRATFOR hacked by Anonymous--and so was I

I have a grudging admiration for anonymous, the "non-group" of people using their hacking skills not to make a profit, but to bring political and social change.  I've commented on them in the past.  They were a case study of "gray area" and "non-hierarchical" actors in my class last semester on Terrorism.  And while I think it's safe to call what they do cyber-crime, I don't see any real terrorist intent.  More like a robin hood complex.

So imagine my surprise to learn I had been targeted by them (or by somebody using their name--that's the problem with non-groups with anonymous membership.  Hell, *I* might be a member...).  A few years ago I was a paid subscriber to STRATFOR, a private intelligence service.  I'm still on their mailing list, reading the free newsletters and receiving offers to rejoin.  STRATFOR's subscriber list is now on line, complete with names, email addresses, and the password used by that subscriber.  And, apparently, the credit card numbers are available, too.  Including mine.

(And no, I won't link to any of it it.  You can find it for yourself, no doubt.)

In addition to providing a "who's-who" of government, corporate, and academic intel types (an interesting list, by the way--I should remember to save a copy for myself), anonymous threatens to use the numbers and passwords to make contributions to charities of their choice in the names of STRATFOR subscribers (robin hoods, remember?) and break into the files of those subscribers elsewhere.

I don't think I'm in any particular trouble.  Not only am I not worth targeting, the information they have on me is old.  I dropped that credit card years ago, and changed the number on my debit card a few weeks ago.  I've regularly updated my passwords everywhere several time since I was a paid member, and the STRATFOR password opens nothing.  All they really have is an email address, and that's public knowledge already.  But it's an interesting experience.  And I'm glad I decided, all those years ago, that a personal subscription to STRATFOR wasn't worth the cost.

Oh, and if you are from anonymous and reading this--no hard feelings.