Posted December 20, It now appears increasingly certain that North Korean state-sponsored hackers are resorting to cybercrime — including a massive bitcoin heist — to raise desperately needed cash for the regime. Internet security experts blame North Korean cybercrime group Lazarus for an attack this week on South Korean currency exchange Youbit, which lost 17 per cent of its currency holdings and has been forced into bankruptcy.
In last week's attack, hackers broke into the exchange's "hot wallet", an online account that pays out bitcoin withdrawals instantly, security analysts say. According to Bitcoin magazine, hot wallets offer "greater convenience" but also "put funds at greater risk because they are connected to the internet" compared with safer "cold wallets".
As bitcoin values skyrocket, the threat of such cyber attacks has also increased and is predicted to soar inespecially in North Korea which is increasingly isolated by economic sanctions aimed at curbing its nuclear efforts.
Bitcoin doubled its price in the last quarter alone, and internet analysts say it now makes the top 10 most targeted industries for cyber attack, despite its relatively small size and web presence. Lazarus is a group of hackers blamed for a spate of cyber espionage and sabotage attacks and online bank robberies that go back to at least US authorities including the FBI and the National Security Agency are certain the group is connected to — if not directly under — the command of the North Korean regime.
More recently it appears the group is an umbrella group for other cybercriminal sub-groups, including BlueNoroff, which is more focused on financial crime "with the goal of invisible theft without leaving a trace" according to one cybersecurity company, the Kaspersky Lab. Lazarus hackers are suspected of carrying out the Wannacry attack last Chinas central bank hacked angry bitcoin traders may be that shut down hospitals, banks and businesses around the world.
US homeland security adviser Tom Bossert has directly blamed the North Korean regime for the Wannacry virus and vowed to hold Pyongyang accountable. Chris Chinas central bank hacked angry bitcoin traders may be, a threat engineer at the software security firm AlienVault, suspects BlueNoroff was behind last week's raid on Youbit.
Recent attacks on other currency exchanges, Bithumb and Coinis, also show the digital fingerprints of hackers from North Korea, according to South Korean researchers. South Korea's intelligence services estimate attacks on multiple currency exchanges could have cost tens of millions of dollars in stolen funds.
Last week a US cyber security firm accused Lazarus of a spearphishing scam which tricked victims into clicking on a fraudulent link for a job as a chief financial officer at a London cryptocurrency company. Victims unwittingly allowed a malicious code onto their device which made it possible for hackers to download malware or steal data.
South Korean investigators say spearphishing attacks targeting individuals in South Korea were designed to look as if they were from the country's tax agency or other government bodies, chinas central bank hacked angry bitcoin traders may be aimed to steal customers' personal information. A report by South Korea's Financial Security Institute recently blamed the North Korean regime for orchestrating such attacks as a means of raising foreign currency for the impoverished nation — a marked shift from earlier hacking to cause social disruption or steal military or government data.
The internet security company Symantec has previously said that methods used in the WannaCry attacks showed strong links to Lazarus, but not necessarily to the government of Kim Jong-un. The technical details do not enable us to attribute the motivations of the attacks to a specific nation, state or individuals. South Korea says it is considering the possibility of new sanctions against Pyongyang in the wake of the latest cyber attacks. If you have inside knowledge of a topic in the news, contact the ABC.
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Donald Trump's company tax cuts boosted US equity markets and stimulated growth, while also overwhelmingly favouring the wealthy. They offer no support for trimming company tax here. Analysts say bitcoin is a top target for cyber attack. North Korea's Unitthe cyber warfare cell that worries the West.
But don't spend your bitcoin on beer. South Korea's intelligence services estimate attacks could have cost tens of millions of dollars in stolen funds South Korea's Financial Security Institute recently blamed the North Korean regime for orchestrating such attacks in a report It claimed it was a means of raising foreign currency for the impoverished nation. Bitcoin explained Can't tell a bitcoin from a blockchain? Read our explainer to see how the cryptocurrency works.
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