# North Korea's version of Facebook "hacked" **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 31, 2016, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-koreas-version-of-facebook-hacked/756156 "2016-05-31T09:00:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2016, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-koreas-version-of-facebook-hacked/756156/1 "2016-05-31T09:00:54Z")
I put “hacked” in quotes because of how lame the security was. From [The Korea Times](http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2016/05/485_205966.html) comes this info: > [@](#): > > North Korea launched its own version of Facebook - “Best Korea’s Social Network” - on Friday but shut it down soon after a Scottish teenager hacked into it. > > According to CNN Money, Doug Madory, the director of Internet analysis firm Dyn DNS, found the website on a North Korean server and told the media it was available to people outside the isolated country at www.starcon.net.kp. > > But within hours of its launch, Scottish teenager Andrew McKean hacked the website by using “admin” and “password” for the login details. Yep. You read that right. The password for the admin account was _password_. Personally, I was hoping that they’d upped the security level to having the password be 비밀번호. But this is still pretty funny. ---
**Author:** ![Isosleepy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/isosleepy/32/479_2.png) [@Isosleepy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isosleepy)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2016, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-koreas-version-of-facebook-hacked/756156/2 "2016-05-31T12:51:00Z")
That’s why The PRK can’t have nice things. The West always has to piss in their soup. PRK builds really cool fireworks -Boom! Sanctions. PRK builds awesome ski resort - Pow! Shit reviews. And now, PRK goes Zuckerberg and gives their people a fun place to share vacation pics as soon as at a later date they acquire both vacations and permission to take pics, and - Splat! Some probably ginger kid in what arguably isn’t even entirely a country has to show how clever he is. It’s enough to make Kim Jong-un stop smiling. ---
**Author:** ![TwoCarrotSnowman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/twocarrotsnowman/32/15879_2.png) [@TwoCarrotSnowman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwoCarrotSnowman)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2016, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-koreas-version-of-facebook-hacked/756156/3 "2016-05-31T13:21:12Z")
For fans of North Korean IT, our favourite pariah state has released its own official Linux distribution, which you can download and install as long as you don’t mind all your stuff being beamed back to Pyongyang. (That’s not a joke - one of the Linux magazines tested it, and it’s riddled with spyware). Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![TwoCarrotSnowman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/twocarrotsnowman/32/15879_2.png) [@TwoCarrotSnowman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwoCarrotSnowman)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2016, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-koreas-version-of-facebook-hacked/756156/4 "2016-05-31T13:22:20Z")
> [@Isosleepy](#): > > That’s why The PRK can’t have nice things. The West always has to piss in their soup. PRK builds really cool fireworks -Boom! Sanctions. PRK builds awesome ski resort - Pow! Shit reviews. And now, PRK goes Zuckerberg and gives their people a fun place to share vacation pics as soon as at a later date they acquire both vacations and permission to take pics, and - Splat! Some probably ginger kid in what arguably isn’t even entirely a country has to show how clever he is. It’s enough to make Kim Jong-un stop smiling. If we had a like button, I’d have just pushed it. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2016, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-koreas-version-of-facebook-hacked/756156/5 "2016-05-31T13:26:00Z")
It always amazes me how NK can’t feed its own people but they can have nukes, PCs and their own version of Facebook. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2016, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-koreas-version-of-facebook-hacked/756156/6 "2016-05-31T13:26:31Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > Personally, I was hoping that they’d upped the security level to having the password be 비밀번호. OK, I’ll bite. What does this mean? Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2016, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-koreas-version-of-facebook-hacked/756156/7 "2016-05-31T13:34:47Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > OK, I’ll bite. What does this mean? > > Regards, > Shodan “password” ---
**Author:** ![Whiskey\_Dickens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9fc348/32.png) [@Whiskey\_Dickens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whiskey_Dickens)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2016, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-koreas-version-of-facebook-hacked/756156/8 "2016-05-31T13:36:50Z")
The name of the network is actually “Best Korea’s Social Network”? Let me be the first to call bullshit. I’m guessing this is a Korean Onion -type story that has been repeated as fact by western media outlets. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2016, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-koreas-version-of-facebook-hacked/756156/9 "2016-05-31T13:49:17Z")
> [@Whiskey\_Dickens](#): > > The name of the network is actually “Best Korea’s Social Network”? > > Let me be the first to call bullshit. I’m guessing this is a Korean Onion -type story that has been repeated as fact by western media outlets. [Here’s the CNN article](http://money.cnn.com/2016/05/27/technology/north-korea-facebook-clone/index.html). It’s possible the website itself was fake, but it looks like that reporter actually visited that website. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2016, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-koreas-version-of-facebook-hacked/756156/10 "2016-05-31T15:05:27Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > > [@Shodan](#): > > > > OK, I’ll bite. What does this mean? > > “password” Literally, it’s “secret number”. I don’t know why, but that tickles me every time I hear it in Korea. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2016, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-koreas-version-of-facebook-hacked/756156/11 "2016-05-31T15:09:10Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > > [@Whiskey\_Dickens](#): > > > > The name of the network is actually “Best Korea’s Social Network”? > > > > Let me be the first to call bullshit. I’m guessing this is a Korean Onion -type story that has been repeated as fact by western media outlets. > > [Here’s the CNN article](http://money.cnn.com/2016/05/27/technology/north-korea-facebook-clone/index.html). It’s possible the website itself was fake, but it looks like that reporter actually visited that website. It seems to be something hosted in North Korea but for “friends of North Korea” outside the country. Apparently it was done as some kind of test. What kind? We’ll probably never know. Oh, and **Wiskey Dickens** ; while _The Korea Times_ isn’t the best newspaper out there, it’s no _Onion_, and certainly not a “western media outlet”. ---
**Author:** ![Whiskey\_Dickens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9fc348/32.png) [@Whiskey\_Dickens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whiskey_Dickens)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2016, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-koreas-version-of-facebook-hacked/756156/12 "2016-05-31T15:26:05Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > Oh, and **Wiskey Dickens** ; while _The Korea Times_ isn’t the best newspaper out there, it’s no _Onion_, and certainly not a “western media outlet”. You got me on both points, the story must be true! ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2016, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-koreas-version-of-facebook-hacked/756156/13 "2016-05-31T15:49:35Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > It seems to be something hosted in North Korea but for “friends of North Korea” outside the country. Apparently it was done as some kind of test. What kind? We’ll probably never know. At least it made it past the borders. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2016, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-koreas-version-of-facebook-hacked/756156/14 "2016-05-31T17:37:00Z")
Who the hell has computers or anything with which to post in North Korea? Facebook with 20 people on it? ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2016, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-koreas-version-of-facebook-hacked/756156/15 "2016-05-31T20:51:20Z")
And no one would have noticed had the kid not posted that Kim Jong-un was, in fact, shorter than Dennis Rodman. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2016, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-koreas-version-of-facebook-hacked/756156/16 "2016-05-31T21:09:45Z")
Gatopescado: > [@](#): > > Who the hell has computers or anything with which to post in North Korea? Facebook with 20 people on it? North Korea is an industrialized country with trade relations with China. Pyongyang is a city of over 2.5 million people. You think no one has a computer? ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2016, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-koreas-version-of-facebook-hacked/756156/17 "2016-06-01T08:11:03Z")
> [@cmkeller](#): > > Gatopescado: > > North Korea is an industrialized country with trade relations with China. Pyongyang is a city of over 2.5 million people. You think no one has a computer? Only a relatively elite few in NK are permitted to have computers – estimated at somewhere from 1000 to about 5000 – mostly tech students, government, and military. Their “internet” is really more of a nationwide intranet, very restricted and heavily censored, with very limited connection to any net outside the country. Google internet in North Korea to find many articles in western media describing it. Some examples: [Your poster guide: A fascinating glimpse into North Korea’s ‘internet’](http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/07/21/north_koreas_internet/) [Internet in North Korea: everything you need to know](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/11309882/Internet-in-North-Korea-everything-you-need-to-know.html) ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2016, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-koreas-version-of-facebook-hacked/756156/18 "2016-06-01T12:41:22Z")
> [@TwoCarrotSnowman](#): > > If we had a like button, I’d have just pushed it. > Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk You do when using Tapatalk. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2016, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-koreas-version-of-facebook-hacked/756156/19 "2016-06-01T13:04:21Z")
> [@TwoCarrotSnowman](#): > > If we had a like button, I’d have just pushed it. > > Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk > [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > You do when using Tapatalk. And now you just told North Korea you’re using Tapatalk. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2016, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-koreas-version-of-facebook-hacked/756156/20 "2016-06-01T16:15:20Z")
What are they going to do, nuke me? 😃 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-koreas-version-of-facebook-hacked/756156.md?page=2)