Reuters: North Korea Recruits and Trains Hackers From Age 11, Successful Hackers Can Take Up to 30% of Proceeds

PANews, November 6: According to Reuters, North Korea has established a hacker training system that has been operating for more than a decade: each year it selects about 150 to 200 students around the age of 11 or 12 from the junior high school level to study computer science, and at age 17 the best enter top universities and undergo further screening, with only a few ultimately entering the military cyber force. The report, citing defectors, said that after a successful attack, the military unit where the hackers are based can receive up to 30% of the stolen proceeds in US dollars, and top hackers can also receive housing in Pyongyang and large foreign exchange rewards. According to a 2024 estimate by South Korea's National Intelligence Service, North Korea has about 8,400 cyber warfare personnel.