LONDON – A British university offered scholarships to North Korean students to take an IT course and now there’s fear those skills are being put to use against the West.

“Bursaries [scholarships] worth tens of thousands of pounds were offered to North Korean students by the University of Westminster in central London to take its master’s degree,” the Sun reports.

MORE NEWS: From Classroom to Consulate Chef: Culinary Student Lands Dream Job at U.S. Embassy in Paris

Courses offered include an understanding of cyber-attacks and testing whether computer networks could be vulnerable to hackers.

Another covers “techniques to secure computer networks, and critically evaluates them in the light of a variety of types of attacks.”

The university contends it offered the scholarships to “broaden minds.”

According to the paper, “Two children of regime members took the course and studied at the privately-funded Pyongyang University of Science and Technology.”

The value for each student’s scholarship was reportedly £28,000, or about $43,700, including flights, accommodation, tuition. The British university even gave the students a monthly allowance.

A course description explains: “The topics you will cover include network security concepts, computer and network system attacks, cryptography, web security, wireless security, network security tools, and systems.

MORE NEWS: Know These Before Moving From Cyprus To The UK

“During the practical sessions, you will use an isolated computer laboratory to explore a range of software tools available to audit vulnerabilities in networks and to configure security.”

Last week, the FBI claimed North Korean hackers were behind an attack on Sony Pictures that exposed internal emails, financials and communications, according to CNN.

The university defends paying for North Korean students to take technology courses.

A spokesman for the University of Westminster tells the Sun: “Universities have a role to play in broadening minds and international scholarships offer a way of disseminating British education and cultural values to the global community.”