Digital Security Under Compound Threats: Surveillance, Threat Reasoning, and Habituation Among North Korean Defectors in China
Yibo MengBingyi LiuLionel Z. WangHongkun Yang
Nov 2026
CybersecurityHuman-computer Interaction
Abstract
North Korean defectors residing in China face persistent uncertainty regarding digital security and privacy. Through semi-structured interviews with 19 defectors, we examine how individuals understand digital threats and adapt their security behaviors. We identify three interrelated conditions: transnational surveillance pressure from North Korea, identity-linked digital infrastructure and intermediary dependency in China, and threat reasoning shaped by prior surveillance schemas. Participants developed uneven protective practices and followed two trajectories: adaptive habituation driven by knowledge acquisition and erosive habituation driven by the prolonged absence of adverse events. Our findings show how compound threats, attribution uncertainty, and constrained agency shape security reasoning among undocumented users.
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