Trump's North Korea summit cancellation could result in new swathe of cyber attacks

Denial of service attacks expected from North Korea, targetting US government departments or military networks

Donald Trump's recent cancellation of the planned summit with North Korea's Kim Jong-un could result in a new swathe of cyber attacks, as the regime retaliates against the perceived snub.

Trump blamed North Korea's "open hostility" for the cancellation in a letter to the country's leader.

Some believe that this could result in a new round of cyber attacks on the US.

Priscilla Moriuchi, Director of Strategic Threat Development at Recorded Future, said that this could take the form of denial of service attacks.

"Cancellation of this summit with Kim will likely have larger implications than if President Trump never accepted the invitation in the first place," said Moriuchi. "This will be viewed by North Korean leadership as a slight against the Kim family which will raise the demand for response.

"We expect that there will be some type of cyber-retaliation, most likely denial-of-service or other disruptive attacks against US government departments or military networks, defence contractors, and large American multinationals. Given the high degree of perceived offense against the Kim family, this response will likely occur in the coming weeks and months.

"Lastly, the timing of the cancellation, right before the Memorial Day holiday in the United States, is consistent with the historic timing of North Korean cyber attacks in the past.

"North Korea launched the Sony Pictures Entertainment attack in December 2014, the MyDoom denial of service attacks against US government networks over the 4th of July weekend in 2009, and has for years conducted missile or nuclear tests on the 4th of July as well."

Trump also recently proposed a deal that would enable Chinese technology provider ZTE to trade with US firms, after it was banned from doing so for seven years.