N Korea hackers aiming for telecoms, power grids

Seoul

THE hacking attack on Sony Pictures may have been a practice run for North Korea's elite cyber-army in a long-term goal of being able to cripple telecoms and energy grids in rival nations.

Defectors said non-conventional capabilities such as cyber-warfare and nuclear technology are the weapons of choice for the impoverished North to match its main enemies.

Obsessed by fears that it will be over-run by South Korea and the United States, North Korea has been working for years on the ability t…