North Korea ‘tried to hack Channel 4 over political TV thriller’

Drama was ditched after irate regime’s cyber attack, report claims

A CHANNEL 4 political thriller about North Korea was ditched after the regime attempted to hack the broadcaster’s computer system, it has been revealed.

The cyber attack was thwarted before it did any damage but the project was later abandoned because it failed to get enough investors. The North Korean regime had become infuriated by the plot of the 10-part series, which was to have dramatised the capture of a British nuclear scientist.

The hacking, revealed by the New York Times, raises questions about the ability of UK creative industries to depict the country at a time of heightened tensions. It also highlights whether the Government is doing enough to counter North Korea’s cyber capabilities.

The saga began in August 2014 when Channel 4’s international drama division announced an “ambitious” new political drama. Opposite Number would have been written by Matt Charman. “On a covert mission in North Korea, the world’s most secretive nation, a British nuclear scientist is taken prisoner, triggering an international crisis which itself must be kept secret,” a plot outline said. “Realising their man could be forced to help North Korea weaponise its nuclear technology, the British prime minister and the US president must work together and mobilise every level of their governments to pull the world back from the brink …”

Mr Charman said the series would “blow the lid off our understanding of who we think the North Korean people are, and what their government truly wants”.

But within days, the country’s top military body, the North’s National Defence Commission, dubbed the project a “slanderous farce”.

The regime already had “unimaginably powerful nuclear weaponry” and did not need foreign technology, a spokesman said, calling on No 10 to intervene. But it has emerged the regime went a step further and reportedly targeted Channel 4 directly.

The New York Times yesterday revealed how “British authorities found that the North had hacked into the network’s computer system”. While it “was stopped before inflicting any damage”, investors for the drama “dried up and the project died”.

A Channel 4 spokesman said the company did not comment on security issues.

The hack mirrored similar events at Sony Pictures, which was targeted over the comedy The Interview about the attempted assassination of Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader.

The company struggled to distribute the film as cinemas were intimidated.

 Every Wi-fi network in the world is vulnerable to hacking, researchers have revealed, and the serious flaw allows criminals to snoop on internet traffic and launch cyber attacks.

A study from the University of Leuven in Belgium found a fault with how internet traffic is protected when it travels between wireless routers and computers.

‘The attack was stopped before inflicting any damage’