Both Korea and the US Score Zero... The Secret Behind Being World No.1 in 'Cyber Finance' Competency

Harvard Belfer Center's '2022 National Cyber Power Index (NCPI)'
North Korea Ranks 1st in Cyber Finance... Overall Cyber Capability in Lower Tier
"Impact of Illegal Cyber Activities Such as Hacking"

North Korea ranked first among 30 countries worldwide in cyber financial capabilities, according to a recent survey. The photo is not related to any specific expression in the article. [Image source=Pixabay]

[Asia Economy Reporter Sumi Hwang] A survey revealed that North Korea ranked first among 30 countries worldwide in cyber financial capabilities. This is interpreted as a result of illegal cyber activities such as cryptocurrency theft and hacking information gathering.

Recently, the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University's Kennedy School in the United States released the 2022 National Cyber Power Index (NCPI) report, announcing these findings.

The NCPI is an index measured by the Belfer Center in cooperation with the U.S. government since 2020. It scores countries in eight areas including cyber attack and defense capabilities, internet information control, overseas intelligence gathering, and finance, then combines these scores to determine the rankings.

According to the report, North Korea scored 50 out of 60 points in the cyber financial sector, ranking first among the 30 surveyed countries. This score is about 5 to 10 times higher compared to second-place China (in the 10-point range) and third-place Vietnam (in the 5-point range). Meanwhile, South Korea, the United States, and other countries all scored zero in this area.

This is because the cyber financial sector score increases with activities such as attacking the information and communication infrastructure of overseas financial institutions or extracting information through hacking. In particular, North Korea's illegal cyber activities, including attacks on cryptocurrency exchanges, are believed to have influenced the score.

However, North Korea ranked low in the other seven sectors besides finance, and its overall capability score was also relatively low. The United States ranked first in cyber capabilities across all areas, followed by China, Russia, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Netherlands. South Korea ranked 7th, Japan 16th, and North Korea was 14th.

Accordingly, some experts argue that it is difficult to consider North Korea a cyber power. Although it ranked high in the financial sector, the overall capabilities must be considered. Radio Free Asia (RFA) diagnosed, "While most countries develop various aspects of cyber capabilities in a balanced way, North Korea is experiencing a distorted growth skewed toward one side."