Security News > 2024 > February > North Korea running malware-laden gambling websites as-a-service

North Korea's latest money-making venture is the production and sale of gambling websites that come pre-infected with malware, according to South Korea's National Intelligence Service.

For an extra $3,000 per month North Korea throws in tech support.

To circumvent UN sanctions that prohibit hiring North Korean workers, the group building the sites posed as Chinese IT workers.

To hide their tracks, the gang remitted money using bank accounts established using Chinese names and borrowed South Korean cyber gambling gang accounts.

Some clients evidently didn't mind that the operatives were under sanctions and knowingly maintained business with the North Koreans - lured by low cost and the ease of using a common language, according to a media report shared by NIS. Gyeonghueng is based in the Sino-Korean border town Dandong, which is also a hotspot for China's apparel industry since North Korean workers are willing to work for low wages.

According to NIS, North Korean IT workers raising money illegally in the area blend right in.

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/02/15/north_korea_turns_to_designing/