The US Justice Department announced Wednesday, February 18 indicting three North Korean hackers for a series of cyberattacks aimed at stealing $ 1.3 billion.
“A federal indictment charges three North Korean hackers with participating in a massive criminal conspiracy to conduct cyber attacks, steal and extort $ 1.3 billion from businesses and banks, create and deploy numerous and malicious competitive crypto applications, and develop a blockchain platform (a technology for storing and transmitting information) fraudulent “, indicates the statement of the State Department.
All these terms that incriminate them, specific to the world of cryptocurrencies and uncommon, intersect with much simpler realities: cyberattacks and extortion.
“Number one bank robber in the world”
According to the indictment filed in a Los Angeles court, the three suspects are part of a North Korean military intelligence agency known to have previously launched cyber attacks.
The three suspects are Jon Chang Hyok, 31, Kim Il, 27, and Park Jin Hyok, 36.
“These North Korean agents, using computer keyboards rather than weapons, stealing computer wallets filled with cryptocurrency rather than bags filled with cash, are the number one bank robbers in the world.”, commented Federal Attorney John Demers.
Authors of the Sony Entertainment hack in 2014
The oldest crime that the American justice accuses them of dates back to November 2014: it is the piracy of Sony Pictures Entertainment. This hack targeted the film The Interview, a cartoon comedy in which two journalists are approached by the CIA to kill North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
The Sony Pictures piracy was claimed by a group demanding that the film studio cancel the release of The interview that kills! (title of the film in its French version).
The total amount extorted unknown
The US Department of Justice does not specify the total sum on which the three men would have got their hands, apart from the total objective of stealing $ 1.3 billion. But several examples of operations are put forward in the press release, making it possible to measure the extent of their crimes.
During an operation in 2018, for example, they stole $ 6.1 million from ATMs in BankIslami, Pakistan, after gaining access to the computer network.
They would also have seized virtual currency exchanges in Slovenia and Indonesia. They would also have stolen $ 11.8 million from a New York exchange market.
Pyongyang in Washington’s sights
US State Department spokesman Ned Price on Wednesday said Washington was reviewing its policies towards Pyongyang.
This review “Will take into account all malicious activity and threats emanating from North Korea”, he said.
“More often than not, we talk about North Korea’s nuclear program and ballistic missiles, but of course its malicious cyber activity is something that we carefully assess as well.”, he added.
In mid-January, North Korean hackers also sought to enter the computer systems of pharmaceutical giant Pfizer to find information on the vaccine and treatments against the coronavirus, South Korean media reported.
–
–
