Security News

US names three North Koreans in laundry list of cybercrime charges
2021-02-18 19:24

The US Department of Justice has just unsealed a lengthy list of cybercrime charges against three North Koreans. The DOJ explicitly named the three accused men as Jon Chang Hyok, Kim Il, and Park Jin Hyok, alleging them to be part of a North Korean hacking group that you may have heard referred to over the years as APT38 or the Lazarus Group.

US shares info on North Korean malware used to steal cryptocurrency
2021-02-18 15:25

The FBI, CISA, and US Department of Treasury shared detailed info on malicious and fake crypto-trading applications used by North Korean-backed state hackers to steal cryptocurrency from individuals and companies worldwide in a joint advisory published on Wednesday. "It is likely that these actors view modified cryptocurrency trading applications as a means to circumvent international sanctions on North Korea-the applications enable them to gain entry into companies that conduct cryptocurrency transactions and steal cryptocurrency from victim accounts."

U.S. Charges 3 North Korean Hackers Over $1.3 Billion Cryptocurrency Heist
2021-02-18 00:24

The U.S. Department of Justice on Wednesday indicted three suspected North Korean hackers for allegedly conspiring to steal and extort over $1.3 billion in cash and cryptocurrencies from financial institutions and businesses. Accusing them of creating and deploying multiple malicious cryptocurrency applications, developing and fraudulently marketing a blockchain platform, the indictment expands on the 2018 charges brought against Park, one of the alleged nation-state hackers previously charged in connection with the 2014 cyberattack on Sony Pictures Entertainment.

Uncle Sam accuses three suspected North Korean govt hackers of stealing $1.3bn+ from banks, crypto orgs
2021-02-17 22:22

Three suspected North Korean military intelligence hackers have been charged with, among other things, conspiring to loot more than $1.3bn from banks, ATMs, and cryptocurrency companies, according to an indictment unsealed by the US Department of Justice on Wednesday. Court documents, filed in the District Court in Los Angeles in December last year and now made public [PDF], claim Park Jin Hyok, 36, Jon Chang Hyok, 31, and Kim Il, 27, were hackers employed by the Reconnaissance General Bureau, a North Korean intelligence agency.

U.S. Indicts North Korean Hackers in Theft of $200 Million
2021-02-17 21:12

The U.S. Justice Department today unsealed indictments against three men accused of working with the North Korean regime to carry out some of the most damaging cybercrime attacks over the past decade, including the 2014 hack of Sony Pictures, the global WannaCry ransomware contagion of 2017, and the theft of roughly $200 million and attempted theft of more than $1.2 billion from banks and other victims worldwide. Investigators with the DOJ, U.S. Secret Service and Department of Homeland Security told reporters on Wednesday the trio's activities involved extortion, phishing, direct attacks on financial institutions and ATM networks, as well as malicious applications that masqueraded as software tools to help people manage their cryptocurrency holdings.

U.S. Accuses North Korean Hackers of Stealing Millions
2021-02-17 18:20

Multiple spear-phishing campaigns targeting U.S. aerospace companies, defense contractors, energy companies, technology companies, the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Department of State. Cryptocurrency Heists, 2017-2020: Targeting of hundreds of cryptocurrency companies, including stealing $75 million from a Slovenian cryptocurrency company in December 2017; $24.9 million from an Indonesian cryptocurrency company in September 2018; and $11.8 million from a financial services company in New York in August, in which the hackers used the malicious CryptoNeuro Trader application as a backdoor.

U.S. Charges North Korean Hackers Over $1.3 Billion Bank Heists
2021-02-17 17:48

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".

US indicts North Korean hackers for stealing $1.3 billion
2021-02-17 17:21

The U.S. Department of Justice has charged three North Koreans for stealing $1.3 billion in money and cryptocurrency in attacks on banks, the entertainment industry, cryptocurrency companies, and more. The defendants are state-sponsored North Korean hackers and members of Reconnaissance General Bureau units, a North Korean military intelligence agency that has engaged in criminal hacking operations.

North Korean attacks on crypto exchanges reportedly netted $316m in two years
2021-02-10 04:54

North Korean attacks on crypto exchanges reportedly netted an estimated $316m in cryptocurrency in 2019 and 2020, according to a report by Japan's Nikkei. The outlet says it saw that figure in a draft of a United Nations report destined for the desk of the Security Council's North Korea Sanctions Committee.

Google releases alarming report about North Korean hackers posing as security analysts
2021-01-26 21:39

Google said the attackers were targeting security researchers by using fake LinkedIn and Twitter profiles and asking to collaborate. Google unveiled a new report from its Threat Analysis Group on Monday highlighting the work of a group of cyberattackers associated with the government of North Korea that sought to impersonate cybersecurity researchers in an effort to target those "Working on vulnerability research and development at different companies and organizations." Adam Weidemann, a member of the Threat Analysis Group, wrote that the attackers used a variety of fake blogs, Twitter accounts and LinkedIn profiles to make themselves look legitimate and communicate with researchers and analysts they were hoping to go after.