Rapid Fire March 28, 2012: North Korean ‘Sophisticated’ Hackers – How?

* Finmeccanica declared [PDF] a EUR 2.3 billion loss for 2011 (slightly more than $3B) on EUR 17.3B of revenue (-7% vs. 2010) because of high nonrecurring charges. Sales declined 22% to EUR 17.4B. Total backlog dropped 5% to 46 billion euros but from the company’s own admission it is “marked by a number of uncertain orders.” * Turkey’s SSM procurement agency has unveiled their new 5-year strategic plan, with timetables for key acquisitions like the T129 ATAK helicopter and Altay tank. * The Pentagon is on board with more support for Israel’s Iron Dome rocket defense systems. RAFAEL is partnered with Raytheon to market Iron Dome in the USA, and several NATO allies are interested in system. * The US Army thinks it can make solar cells more efficient using quantum dots. * “North Korea employs sophisticated computer hackers trained to launch cyber infiltration and cyber attacks” according to US Army General James Thurman, the commander of US Forces Korea. Considering this backwards country cannot even properly feed itself, let alone keep the lights on at night, we are a little skeptical that it can develop any sort of homegrown cyber capability “sophisticated” enough to worry the US and […]