Security News > 2020 > August > BeagleBoyz: 2020's hottest country-rap band, or N. Korea hackers stealing millions. Only one way to find out...

North Korean government hackers dubbed the BeagleBoyz are trying to electronically rob banks, the United States warned this week.

In one such successful instance, they swiped $81m from the Bank of Bangladesh in 2016, a theft previously attributed to North Korea.

According to the US government, BeagleBoyz "Use unwitting banks, including banks in the United States, for their SWIFT fraud scheme. These banks are custodians of accounts belonging to victim banks or unknowingly serve as a pass-through for the fraud."

The hackers also like to make ATMs pay out free money, known as cash outs: "Fraudulent ATM cash outs have affected upwards of 30 countries in a single incident. The conspirators have withdrawn cash from ATM machines operated by various unwitting banks in multiple countries, including in the United States."

"As North Korea becomes bolder and more desperate in their efforts to steal money using sophisticated money laundering techniques, HSI will continue to apply pressure by exposing their fraudulent transactions," said Steven Cagen, special agent in charge at the Homeland Security Investigations unit of ICE. "We are committed to safeguarding the interest of the United States against the criminal elements in North Korea to protect the integrity of the cyber financial system." .

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2020/08/28/beagleboyz/