It has been revealed that North Korean hackers attempted to hack employee information by impersonating a financial institution used by US State Department employees.
According to a report released on the 5th (local time) by Google’s Threat Analysis Group (TAG), the North Korean hacking group ‘APT43’, known as ‘Kimsuky’, impersonated the ‘State Department Credit Union’ at the end of last year, killing State Department employees and their families. They said they were trying to steal personal information.
According to the report, North Korean hackers sent e-mails masquerading as State Department credit unions, saying “Your e-mail account is being used in Japan.” Please check your e-mail activity’ and induced them to click the attached link. By clicking on this link, they were linked to a phishing page created by North Korean hackers, through which they hacked the victims’ passwords and other account information. Kim Soo-ki, also known by the name of ‘Thallium’, is a hacking organization under the direction of the North Korean Reconnaissance General Administration. In 2014, he hacked Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power to steal nuclear power plant drawings. I did too.
On the 6th, the U.S. Treasury Department released a report titled “Assessment of Illegal Financial Risks in DeFi,” a decentralized finance using virtual currencies, to help North Korea finance its development of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) by using blockchain technology and virtual assets. It pointed out that they are laundering illegally obtained funds by abuse. The Treasury Department also warned in the report that North Korea is sending thousands of information technology (IT) workers around the world to support hacking activities and money laundering.
In an expert panel report released on the 5th, the North Korea Sanctions Committee under the UN Security Council said that North Korea mobilized hacking organizations including Kim Soo-ki to spend at least 630 million dollars (about 820 billion won) and up to 1 billion dollars (about 1.3 trillion won) last year. It pointed out that they stole virtual currency and used it to fund development of nuclear weapons.
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Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.