L.A. Rent Crisis Fuels COVID; U.S. Indicts North Korean Men in Cyberattacks | Feb. 17

On the Feb. 17 episode of SoCal Update, a new survey says high rents in L.A. have fueled the spread of COVID-19, plus three men who worked for North Korean intelligence are charged for a state-sponsored hacking attack.

A survey by the University of Southern California found that nearly two-thirds of L.A. renters are spending more than 30% of their income on rent and more than 40% live in overcrowded housing. Latinos are more likely to live in cramped homes. This crisis is driving COVID-19 infections because when L.A. workers get sick, they’re often bringing the virus into homes where it has plenty of opportunity to spread, says KPCC Reporter David Wagner.

Seven years ago, Sony Pictures made a comedy called “The Interview,” about the fictional assassination of North Korea’s Kim Jon-un, which led to a real-life cyberattack on Sony. KPCC Entertainment Reporter John Horn reports federal prosecutors on Wednesday alleged that the Sony breach was part of a larger state-sponsored cyberattack that extorted more than $1.3 billion dollars from banks and other businesses around the globe.

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David Wagner @radiowagner
John Horn @JGHorn
Leo Duran @LeoHasACat