North Korean hackers have grown into a potent global threat over the past decade, targeting Hollywood studios, holding hospitals ransom and pilfering hundreds of millions in cryptocurrency.

But while the DPRK’s bold cybercrimes have increasingly attracted attention, such hacking is only one part of a broader cyber strategy that starts at home — with an array of domestic policies that seek to fortify the country’s cyber infrastructure against external dangers.

The Kim regime has traditionally used old methods like party and police to further its political objectives, control the narrative and punish dissent. But