Security News

Ethereum dev imprisoned for helping North Korea evade sanctions
2022-04-12 21:42

Virgil Griffith, a US cryptocurrency expert, was sentenced on Tuesday to 63 months in prison after pleading guilty to assisting the Democratic People's Republic of Korea with technical info on how to evade sanctions. Griffith, who worked as a special projects developer and research scientist for the Ethereum Foundation, was arrested in November 2019 by the FBI following a presentation in North Korea on how the country could use cryptocurrency and blockchain tech to launder money and evade sanctions.

Chrome Zero-Day from North Korea
2022-03-31 11:13

North Korean hackers have been exploiting a zero-day in Chrome. The flaw, tracked as CVE-2022-0609, was exploited by two separate North Korean hacking groups.

We blocked North Korea's Chrome exploit, says Google
2022-03-25 01:39

Google on Thursday described how it apparently caught and thwarted North Korea's efforts to exploit a remote code execution vulnerability in Chrome. Exploiting the bug clears the way to compromise a victim's browser and potentially take over their computer to spy on them.

North Korea pulled in $400m in cryptocurrency heists last year – report
2022-01-16 11:01

Thieves operating for the North Korean government made off with almost $400m in digicash last year in a concerted attack to steal and launder as much currency as they could. Bitcoin used to be a top target but Ether is now the most stolen currency, say the researchers, accounting for 58 per cent of the funds filched.

RAT malware spreading in Korea through webhards and torrents
2021-10-21 14:22

An ongoing malware distribution campaign targeting South Korea is disguising RATs as an adult game shared via webhards and torrents. The attackers are using easily obtainable malware such as njRAT and UDP RAT, wrap them in a package that appears like a game or other program, and then upload them on webhards.

Ethereum dev admits helping North Korea mine crypto-bucks, faces 20 years jail
2021-09-28 05:44

A US citizen has admitted to helping the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to establish cryptocurrency capabilities and faces up to 20 years jail for his actions. The DoJ alleges Griffith and his co-conspirators "Provided instruction on how the DPRK could use blockchain and cryptocurrency technology to launder money and evade sanctions," and "How blockchain technology such as 'smart contracts' could be used to benefit the DPRK, including in nuclear weapons negotiations with the United States."

Blockhead admits to helping North Korea mine crypto-bucks, faces 20 years jail
2021-09-28 05:44

A US citizen has admitted to helping the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to establish cryptocurrency capabilities and faces up to 20 years jail for his actions. The Department of Justice on Monday revealed that Virgil Griffith, a US citizen resident in Singapore, hatched plans in 2018 to help an individual in the hermit kingdom mine cryptocurrency.

Ethereum dev admits to helping North Korea evade crypto sanctions
2021-09-27 19:14

Griffith, who worked as a special projects dev and researcher for the Ethereum Foundation, was arrested in November 2019 by the FBI. Advice on how to evade sanctions and launder money. His arrest happened after he traveled to North Korea to give a presentation on how to use cryptocurrency and blockchain tech to launder money and evade sanctions.

Authorities Arrest Another TrickBot Gang Member in South Korea
2021-09-07 12:48

Another alleged member of the TrickBot gang has been apprehended, this time when trying to leave South Korea, according to published reports.His arrest was the result of an investigation U.S. authorities began into TrickBot during his time in South Korea after the botnet was used "To facilitate ransomware attacks across the US throughout 2020," according to the report.

TrickBot gang developer arrested when trying to leave Korea
2021-09-06 15:24

An alleged Russian developer for the notorious TrickBot malware gang was arrested in South Korea after attempting to leave the country. The TrickBot cybercrime group is responsible for a variety of sophisticated malware targeting Windows and Linux devices to gain access to victim's networks, steal data, and deploy other malware, such as ransomware.