US waging secret cyberwar against North Korean missile program

American cyberwarriors are trying to sabotage North Korea's missile program -- but analysts argue over whether the effort has had real results, a New York Times investigation found. Soon after ex-President Obama ordered the secret program three years ago, North Korean missiles began exploding, veering off course or crashing into the sea, the newspaper said Saturday. A middle-range North Korean missile, the Musudan, has a failure rate of 88 percent, the newspaper said. By most accounts, the North Korean missile failures were caused by US sabotage, the Times says. But it's also likely many of the missile failures resulted from North Korean incompetence. North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un may have been rattled by the US cyber effort. Last fall, he was widely reported to have ordered an investigation into whether the US was sabotaging his country's missiles. But in any case, the newspaper said, the North Koreans have had three successful missile tests in the last eight months. Kim has said his country is in the final stage or preparations of launching an intercontinental missile that could reach much of the world. It might be a bluff -- or it might not. Obama reportedly ordered the cyber sabotage in early 2014 after deciding that 60 years of US efforts to figure out how to shoot down incoming missiles had not yielded a system that would reliably defend against a missile attack. Obama's effort is now left to President Trump and his administration. According to a senior administration official, the White House is looking at pre-emptive military strike options, the Times said. It's also possible the US will move tactical nuclear weapons to South Korea. The weapons were withdrawn about 25 years ago. The efforts to electronically sabotage the missiles before they're fired are called "left of launch." For years, Pentagon officials have discussed the programs in little-noticed comments to Congress and at defense conferences, the Times said. The newspaper said it withheld some details of the cyber efforts at the request of Trump administration officials.
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• a New York Times investigation found

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