North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (C) smiles as he gives field guidance at the Kim Jong Suk Pyongyang Textile Mill in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang December 20, 2014.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (C) smiles as he gives field guidance at the Kim Jong Suk Pyongyang Textile Mill in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang December 20, 2014. Reuters/KCNA

Another internet outage has hit North Korea. This marked the second time the country experienced such disruption since the relations between Washington and Pyongyang became strained after the infamous Sony cyber-attack.

According to recent updates, North Korea's internet and mobile 3G network stopped working suddenly at 7:30 pm, Pyongyang time. The same incident occurred earlier this week when the country's internet connection was disrupted on Tuesday. CNet has reported that North Korea is blaming the United States for these internet disruptions.

These incidents led to various speculations that the U.S. may have launched a cyber-attack against the country in retaliation for the Sony hacking scandal. The exact reason for these internet disruptions could not be found yet. It remains undetermined whether these were caused by a cyber-attack or a mere technical glitch.

Different theories are emerging to explain North Korea's internet disruption. While a hacker group is claiming to be the perpetrators of the attack via an announcement made in the micro blogging site Twitter, Techcrunch quoted CloudFlare CEO Matthew Prince on the fact that North Korea's internet system is quite fragile. He added that even a teenager could hack it as the country only has one internet service provider, which is connected via China.

The hacking attack launched against Sony was said to be a protest against the company's upcoming move, 'The Interview'. The film is a comic plot featuring the attempted assassination of North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un. The movie saw a massive protest in North Korea prior to its release.

The repeated 9/11 style threat attacks on the cinemas that will showcase this movie prompted Sony to cancel its Christmas release. This decision was criticised by several Hollywood A-listers and even U.S. President Barack Obama.

Sony then reversed the decision and released the movie through direct distribution online via its own services, YouTube and few independent cinemas. Since its release, the movie is generating buzz and has gathered $1.04 million in revenue.

FBI recently identified North Korea as the possible suspect for the cyber-attack against Sony. Notably, North Korea has constantly denied these accusations. With the recent internet disruptions in the country, even IT experts are starting to doubt the FBI's claims. Several highly respected IT experts are skeptical about North Korea's involvement in the Sony hacking incident, as told by The Australian.

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