North Korean authorities are concentrating their efforts on preventing people from illegally using the popular WiFi network “Mirae,” Daily NK has learned.
A source in North Korea told Daily NK last Thursday that “many people” use Mirae, a “wireless indoor and outdoor intranet service network.”
According to her, “It works well around Pyongyang, Pyongsong and Nampo, but it doesn’t work well in provincial areas or places with a low density of base stations.”
North Korea announced in 2018 that smartphone users could access the state network through an app called the “Mirae public wireless data communications network.”
However, the wireless network’s reach in many regions still appears to be poor.
“To use Mirae, you need to bring a residency card, citizen card and a mobile phone or tablet computer with a SIM card in your own name to a service center or post office,” said the source. “You then buy a Mirae SIM card and install it [in the device].”
Most North Korean smartphones have slots for two SIM cards. One slot appears to be for a USIM to enable use of the phone, while the other is for the telecom network’s USIM.
The source said users need to register the Mirae SIM card in their own name after purchasing it with a residency card or citizen card.
“After using the SIM card to verify your identity, you can access the state public wireless data communications network. Only then can you access all the programs [on the device],” she said.
The developers of the wireless network appear to have put a great deal of thought into security, requiring the verification of users several times before allowing access to the network.
North Korea’s telecommunications authorities also track and manage what people do on the network.
The source said the state can track and record which data smartphone users with Mirae SIM cards show interest in.
“They can track you, so they can expand and atomize controls on electronic devices for the entire population,” she explained.
Because the authorities can track what users do on the Mirae network, they can also charge fees — assuming that the user is using a smartphone in their own name.
“They sometimes even send text messages warning you that if you don’t pay the monthly fee, you could lose the 200 free minutes you get the next month,” the source said.
However, some North Koreans are finding ways to use the Mirae network without government tracking or paying fees.
“Many people use Mirae without permission and without paying fixed line fees or charges,” said the source.
“The state is saying it will find and stop people who use cloned verified devices or brute-force attacks [to use the network],” she added.
According to the source, the country’s authorities are currently researching ways to bolster security of the wireless network even further.
The source said the research aims to protect North Korea’s internal secrets and develop the network as a purely local-use public WiFi network, given concern that the current network could be accessed by outsiders or subject to electromagnetic interference.
“The information technology department of Bureau 95 in the State Affairs Commission is handling the research and development activities on this,” she said.
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