Washington has issued an advisory warning about North Korea’ (DPRK) ongoing cyber threat.
According to the advisory, “The DPRK’s malicious cyber activities threaten the United States and the broader international community and, in particular, pose a significant threat to the integrity and stability of the international financial system. Under the pressure of robust U.S. and UN sanctions, the DPRK has increasingly relied on illicit activities – including cybercrime – to generate revenue for its weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs. In particular, the United States is deeply concerned about North Korea’s malicious cyber activities, which the U.S. government refers to as HIDDEN COBRA. “
Despite its weak economy, The DPRK has the capability to conduct disruptive or destructive cyber activities that endanger elements of America’s key infrastructure .
It’s not just nation vs. nation. North Korea also uses cyber capabilities to steal from financial institutions, and has demonstrated a pattern of disruptive and harmful cyber activity that is wholly inconsistent with the growing international consensus on what constitutes responsible State behavior in cyberspace.
Several nations have banded together to combat the challenge. One example: in December 2017, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United States, and the United Kingdom publicly attributed the WannaCry 2.0 ransomware attack to the DPRK and denounced the DPRK’s harmful and irresponsible cyber activity. Denmark and Japan issued supporting statements for the joint denunciation of the destructive WannaCry 2.0 ransomware attack, which affected hundreds of thousands of computers around the world in May of that year.
North Korea’s state-sponsored cyber actors primarily consist of hackers, cryptologists, and software developers who conduct espionage, cyber-enabled theft targeting financial institutions and digital currency exchanges, and politically-motivated operations against foreign media companies. They develop and deploy a wide range of malware tools around the world to enable these activities and have grown increasingly sophisticated.
The warning outlined some common tactics the Pyongyang-sponsored cyber criminals use to gain funds. Sometimes, the target is not an individual or a business, but a financial institutions and digital currencies. The illicit gains are then laundered within North Korea.
Another tactic is extortion. The cyber crooks will threaten to disrupt or shut down entirely an organizations valuable online presence unless money is paid. Occasionally, these arrangements are called “consulting contracts,” with the alleged services simply promising not to attack the business. It’s the 21st century of the old tactic of promising not to break a store window unless money is given to the vandal.
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According to U.S. experts, “These activities highlight the DPRK’s use of cyber-enabled means to generate revenue while mitigating the impact of sanctions and show that any country can be exposed to and exploited by the DPRK.”
The attacks have been widespread, and have even included the U.S. government and even the military.
The most famous cyber attacks have included the 2014 assault on Sony Pictures, a 2016 attempt to steal a billion dollars from a Bangladesh bank, the infamous 2017 “Wannacry” virus that affected massive numbers of computers, including those used in private homes, and the 2016 “Fastcash” tactic which targeted ATMS in Asia and Africa.
The funds gained are used for a variety of purposes by Pyongyang, including the financing of its nuclear weapons program.
The effort to combat North Korea’s cyberterrorism is multinational. A 2017 UN Security Council resolution required all Member States to repatriate DPRK nationals earning income abroad, including IT workers, by December 22, 2019. The FBI and other U.S. agencies have urged businesses and governments to strengthen their computer security, and to promptly report all attempts at theft and coercion by Pyongyang’s agents.
the United States strongly urges countries to strengthen network defense, shutter DPRK joint ventures in third countries, and expel foreign-located North Korean information technology (IT) workers in a manner consistent with applicable international law. A 2017 UN Security Council resolution required all Member States to repatriate DPRK nationals earning income abroad, including IT workers, by December 22, 2019. The United States also seeks to enhance the capacity of foreign governments and the private sector to understand, identify, defend against, investigate, prosecute, and respond to DPRK cyber threats and participate in international efforts to help ensure the stability of cyberspace.
Illustration: Pixabay