GETTY Kim Jong-un handed his elite internet access, a new report revealed

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Intelligence firm Recorded Future carried out an extensive investigation that monitored internet use in the isolated country for three months and found it to be poorly protected, contradicting conventional wisdom from experts. The report said: “Our analysis demonstrates that the limited number of North Korean leaders and ruling elite with access to the internet are much more active and engaged in the world, popular culture, international news, and with contemporary services and technologies than many outside North Korea had previously thought. “North Korean leaders are not disconnected from the world and the consequences of their actions.”

The report concluded that top-level North Koreans are “plugged into modern internet society”. Sheena Chestnut Greitens, an expert on the hermit kingdom, told Vice News: “It’s common to describe North Korea as an isolated country. “The truth is that the North Korean regime is not that isolated. Ordinary citizens are as a result of the regime’s choices.”

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Ms Greitens said the report, if accurate, offers an intriguing insight into “North Korea’s virtual presence,” something she said, “policymakers should pay attention to”. Despite the findings, ordinary citizens do not have access to the internet as their mobile devices include only the most basic 3G services which are monitored by a North Korean state provider. The report added: “Many VPN and VPS were used to obfuscate or facilitate browsing, either from passive internet monitoring or domestic censors,” according to the report.

“One US VPN was used by an iPad to check a Gmail account, access Google Cloud, check Facebook and MSN accounts, and view adult content. “Other VPN and VPS were used to run Metasploit, make purchases using bitcoin, check Twitter, play video games, stream videos, post documents to Dropbox, and browse Amazon.” Despite the hermit kingdom’s increased efforts to prevent outside information from entering the country, international activists say technology and market forces will eventually overcome state censorship.

GETTY The elite have access to Facebook, Google and MSN the report revealed

GETTY Internet access is not available for the ordinary citizens in North Korea