Red Star is a closed operating system from a closed country. Some details + video

At the 32c3 conference held in Hamburg, some interesting details of the functioning of the North Korean operating system, which were already written on Habré and Geektimes, were announced. This system is called Red Star. As it turned out, North Korean experts have not spent so much time working on this OS (for a total of about 10 years). Despite the fact that the system is based on one of the Linux distributions, it was possible to make it as closed and opaque as possible.

This is not just a pale copy of Western operating systems, as many of you may decide. The OS itself was analyzed by specialists from a German company that works in the field of information security. Interestingly, the OS was downloaded from a site outside of North Korea (as you know, there is no network inside the country, there is only a limited intranet).

The latest version of Red Star was written in 2013, and continues to be used in the country. The visual design was made in the image and likeness of OSX - this was probably done on the instructions of Kim Jong-un, who works on Macs (usually these systems are next to the North Korean leader).

Wikipedia tells usthe following: “Red Star OS (cor. 붉은 별 사용자 영 체계, Pulgynböl Saönjööngchehe) is a North Korean Linux-based operating system. The beginning of its development at the Korean Computer Center dates back to 2002. Until that time, North Korean versions of Windows were usually used in North Korea. As of 2010, the current version of the system was 2.0. Only the localized Korean version is distributed. In English sources it is referred to as Red Star OS. "

North Koreans created their OS, taking Fedora as their basis. At the same time, much was “completed” on its own, including a file encryption system. This was done so that external forces (we read the Americans) could not find loopholes in the system. To enhance security controls, the North Koreans have also developed a system that monitors files. If something changes, the system either shows an error or crashes. This happens, for example, when you turn off the antivirus or firewall - the system does not allow you to configure basic system parameters. Red Star also built in a system of protection against third-party media files (films, music, books). If in North Korea they change data, then on flash drives, and not through the intranet. And now, for example, using a USB flash drive with foreign files does not work either - the system “sees2 and controls all this”.

Now in North Korea, most computers are quite old, with Windows XP on board.



The system itself, according to experts who studied it, is as opaque to the user as possible. Everything here is configured to control and track user actions. The set of applications is minimal: a text editor, a calendar, a program for creating music and several other programs.

System requirements:

• Pentium III 800 MHz
• 256MB RAM
• 3GB hard drive

More details and the opportunity to see the operation of the system with your own eyes - below: