Security News > 2021 > February > U.S. Charges North Korean Hackers Over $1.3 Billion Bank Heists

The U.S. Justice Department on Wednesday announced the indictment of three North Korean military intelligence officials linked to high-profile cyber-attacks that included the theft of $1.3 billion in money and crypto-currency from organizations around the world.

The DOJ described the scope of the North Korean hacking operation as "Extensive and long-running".

These North Korean military hacking units are known by multiple names in the cybersecurity community, including Lazarus Group and Advanced Persistent Threat 38.

The indictment blames the Lazarus group hackers for a wide range of publicly documented attacks, including the hack of Sony Pictures Entertainment in November 2014, the targeting of AMC Theatres later that year, and a 2015 intrusion into Mammoth Screen, which was producing a fictional series involving a British nuclear scientist taken prisoner in DPRK. The U.S. government also linked the indicted hackers to billion-dollar bank heists that attacked the SWIFT messaging system.

The government also detailed the group's involvement in the Wannacry ransomware, the creation and deployment of malicious cryptocurrency applications, the development of multiple malicious cryptocurrency applications that gave the North Korean hackers a backdoor into the victims' computers.

Earlier this week it was reported that North Korean hackers tried to hack into pharmaceutical giant Pfizer in a search for information on a coronavirus vaccine and treatment technology, adding to previous activity associated with the rogue nation trying to access COVID-19 related research.

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