North Korea‘s secretive hacking divisions relentlessly pursue cyber operations to generate funds for the regime‘s weapons programs in defiance of legal markets and international sanctions. Striking banks, government agencies, corporations and cryptocurrencies exchanges, North Korea‘s digital thieves have pilfered over $2 billion dollars during the past year alone.
Let‘s investigate some of North Korea‘s most brazen and technically impressive cyber attacks, analyzing high-profile cases like the crippling 2014 Sony Pictures hack, North Korea‘s role in the global WannaCry pandemic and the attempted $1 billion dollar bank robbery of Bangladesh Bank. By scrutinizing these and other attacks attributed to groups like the elite Lazarus hackers, we‘ll shed light on the methods fueling North Korea‘s nuclear ambitions and forecast trends.
This expert guide will arm you with:
- Context on origins of North/South Korea divide after WWII and the Kim dynasty
- Analysis of North Korea‘s most dangerous hacking groups
- Breakdowns of North Korea‘s most notorious cyber attacks
- Techniques and tools used in attacks on Sony, Russian missile developer, Bangladesh Bank and others
- North Korea‘s adoption of sophisticated cryptocurrency exchange hacks
- Predictions on future trends as sanctions pressure mounts
Let‘s dive in.
North Korea‘s Cyber Warriors Serve the Supreme Leader
North Korea‘s heavy restrictions on outside media and political discourse help reinforce loyalty to the ruling Kim family dynasty by propagating propaganda and blocking unsanctioned narratives from spreading. This tight control and national isolation has given rise to groups of hackers devoted to bypassing sanctions to bankroll North Korea‘s weapons ambitions.
The Korean peninsula‘s division dates back to the aftermath of WWII when it split across the 38th parallel along Soviet and US administered zones in 1945. This temporary partition calcified over decades as North and South Korea underwent drastically different political and economic trajectories. Soviet backing in the North established a rigid, centralized communist system, while US guidance steered South Korea toward free markets and democracy.
Starting with the first leader, Kim Il-Sung in 1948, power has transferred between three generations of the Kim dynasty through hereditary succession marked by intense propaganda campaigns deifying the "supreme leader". Reverence toward the Kim family underpins ideology for North Korea‘s 25 million citizens who face severe information controls designed to prevent outside influence.
Cut off from trade and outside investment, North Korea relies extensively on gray market activities operating in sanctions blind spots to raise funds used to keep elites loyal and further nuclear defense programs. Developing cyber warfare capabilities has proven crucial for skirting sanctions to pilfer funds, obtain contraband materials and unleash strategic chaos.
While isolated regimes aren‘t unique in employing hacker mercenaries, North Korea stands apart in the extensive technical capabilities and reach of its cyber army, which carries out global attacks with brazen impunity. Let‘s analyze some of North Korea‘s most dangerous hacking contingents fueling cyber provocations across the world stage.
Lazarus Group: FBI Most Wanted Hackers
The shadowy Lazarus Group represents the sharpest spear in North Korea‘s cyber arsenal. Active since at least 2009, Lazarus carries out aggressive intrusion campaigns against an array of financial services firms, casinos, entertainment companies, and cryptocurrency exchanges – earning these hackers a spot on the FBI’s most wanted list. Their methods include tailored spear phishing schemes, intricate malware frameworks like AppleJeus for lateral movement, and destructive wiper attacks involving mass data destruction and encryption.
Researchers classify Lazarus as an advanced persistent threat (APT) – denoting methodical, patient hackers backed by substantial resources focused on long term organizational objectives rather than quick strikes. Analysts have painstakingly documented an extensive suite of malware toolkits tied to the Lazarus Group‘s infrastructure and tactics over nearly a decade.
Cybersecurity experts refer to Lazarus by other codenames like HIDDEN COBRA, NICKEL GLADSTONE, or APT38 highlighting the cluster‘s sophisticated tradecraft resembling apex predators in the cyber threat landscape.
While most North Korean hackers focus purely on cybercrime and fund generation, Lazarus stands apart for also waging strategic information warfare attacks against perceived regime opponents – like the brazen 2014 breach and data wipe crippling Sony Pictures discussed next.
This combination of highly sophisticated hacking fused only loosely to ethical norms makes Lazarus the point group for North Korean cyber provocations playing an outsized role attacking global targets in support of Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un’s directives. Now let‘s investigate Lazarus Group‘s stunning hack of Sony Pictures over the film The Interview‘s release featuring a mocking depiction of Kim.
Sony Pictures Hack: Crippling Revenge Attack (2014)
Hacker Group: Lazarus Group (posing as "Guardians of Peace")
Target: Sony Pictures Entertainment
Method: Destructive disk-wiping malware attack
Impact: $35 Million+, leaked films & employee data
The Lazarus Group launched an intricate hack against Sony Picture networks in November 2014 coinciding with the upcoming Christmas release of The Interview – an action comedy depicting a plot to assassinate North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong-Un. The attack crippled thousands of computers across Sony‘s networks, deleted terabytes of sensitive data and exposed embarrassing internal emails across the multinational conglomerate.
Analysts believe the initial breach began months earlier through a targeted phishing lure sent to a finance department manager. Once inside Sony’s systems, Lazarus unleashed specially developed wiper malware dubbed Destover in reference to the Korean destroyer warships. This destructive program systematically scanned servers enterprise-wide before overwriting and deleting data related to ongoing film projects, employee salary details, social security numbers, and other sensitive information.
In addition to data destruction, the malware deleted a Windows system file vital to computer operation – rendering thousands of Sony devices permanently inoperable in a technique called an MBR wipe attack. By November 24th, the malware had crippled over 70% of the studio‘s computers. "Guardians of Peace" announced their intentions with red skeleton imagery alongside demands for Sony to pull The Interview before releasing online troves of confidential data in a classic “hack and leak” maneuver.
Ultimately – despite scrambled efforts from US Cyber Command advising Sony executives – the attack resulted in business losses of $35 million dollars stemming from physical damage, data recovery costs, and network infrastructure fixes. The leaked data held more abstract impacts damaging Sony‘s brand and relationships given the presence of embarrassing executive emails disparaging stars like Angelina Jolie.
While North Korea denied directing the hack, cyber investigators linked IP addresses, encryption signatures, and malware code overlaps from previous attacks attributed to North Korean clusters like Lazarus. US government sources eventually confirmed North Korea‘s Reconnaissance General Bureau intelligence agency commissioned Lazarus hackers to retaliate over perceived insults in The Interview‘s climatic assassination plot of Kim Jong-Un.
The Sony breach marked a new chapter for North Korea aggressively wielding cyber capabilities to defend reputation and interests on the global stage regardless of consequences. Let‘s move to an even more conniving case from 2016 where North Korean thieves nearly pulled off one of history’s biggest bank robberies.
Attempted $1 Billion Bank Heist – Bangladesh Central Bank (2016)
Hacker Group: Lazarus Group (APT38)
Target: Bangladesh Central Bank (via Federal Reserve Bank of New York)
Method: Embedded malware & fraudulent SWIFT transfers
Impact: $81 million stolen
Hacking offers North Korea a mechanism for raising funds by stealing directly from vulnerable financial systems while avoiding the scrutiny stemming from traditional money laundering. The elaborate 2016 cyber plot attempting to drain nearly $1 billion dollars from Bangladesh’s central bank provides a blueprint for North Korea’s brazen bank robbery operations marrying criminality to state interests.
Analysts traced the attack back to elite Lazarus Group hackers after finding overlaps with previous intrusions targeting fast money transfer networks like SWIFT for interbank communications.
The robbery began subtly almost a full year prior in January 2015. Posing as a business professional through fake social media profiles, the hackers emailed malware to Bangladesh Bank employees disguised as a resume and cover letter for a open technical position. This provided an initial foothold in the bank‘s networks which the hackers maintained access to for over a year.
In February 2016, over a weekend, hackers sprang their trap – accessing bank credentials for payment transfers on SWIFT from Bangladesh’s US Federal Reserve bank account. Using these secret financial codes, the criminal team unleashed dozens of money transfer requests to accounts controlled by them in Philippines, Sri Lanka and elsewhere in Asia. While $81 million went through, a simple typo on one transfer form raised suspicions – blocking further withdrawals. Originally the heist envisioned hijacking nearly $1 billion.
The attack combined targeted social engineering, custom malware, and intricate knowledge of how funds move internationally. weiter1@github points out that while most examinations focus on Lazarus Group cryptocurrency heists which reap higher profits, cases like the Bangladesh bank plot reveal an evolution in techniques for bank robbery operations dating back to at least 2015 with other intrusions in Pakistan, Taiwan, Poland, and Mexico.
As pressure from global sanctions further isolate North Korea from legitimate income channels, the intersection between outright cybercrime and state interests will likely keep blurring. Now let‘s explore how the Lazarus hackers unleashed chaos on a global scale in early 2017 with hugely disruptive ransomware.
WannaCry Global Cyber Pandemic (2017)
Hacker Group: Lazarus Group (made up of units called TEMP.Hermit / Telebots / StoneDrill / HIDDEN COBRA by various analysts)
Suspected Perpetrator: Park Jin Hyok
Method: Self-propagating encrypting ransomware worm exploiting NSA Windows exploits
Impact: 150+ countries infected, over $4 billion global damages
The WannaCry outbreak represents the most widespread documented attack tied to North Korea‘s hacking divisions. Striking over 200,000 companies and public sector organizations across 150 countries, the virulent cyber worm crippled health care services, businesses, and critical infrastructure worldwide during a chaotic weekend in May 2017.
WannaCry combined sophisticated NSA hacking exploits repurposed by Lazarus hackers without regard for collateral damage. By exploiting recently leaked Windows vulnerabilities originally discovered by the NSA before detection, North Korea ensured infections spread rapidly across unpatched systems particularly common in developing countries.
Once inside a network, WannaCry leveraged file-sharing protocols to self-propagate further like a biological contagion – encrypting documents and vital medical databases before demanding Bitcoin ransom payments from victims. WannaCry applied additional pressure to pay with threats of permanent data deletion. Damages topped $4 billion globally.
While North Korea denies directing WannaCry‘s detonation, an ongoing investigation driven by private cybersecurity researchers has isolated Park Jin Hyok as a chief suspect behind coordinating global spread of this malware. The Department of Justice has a $3 million dollar reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Park. Experts traced both the ransomware code itself and supporting Lazarus infrastructure like IP addresses back to North Korea hacking units.
The chaos unleashed by WannaCry provided a wake up call on emerging threats from rogue regimes abusing vulnerabilities in critical software infrastructure. Next we‘ll switch gears to examine how North Korea has embraced cryptocurrency theft in response to tightening sanctions.
North Korea Scrapes $2 Billion in Cryptocurrency Heists
North Korea eagerly jumped on trends in blockchain technology and cryptocurrency – identifying them early on as tools for evading sanctions while funding missiles and nuclear programs. The same technical properties that have popularized cryptocurrencies like user anonymity also enable isolated regimes adept at cybercrime to obscure digital asset movement across borders.
According to 2022 analysis from blockchain intelligence firm Chainalysis, North Korea has stolen cryptocurrency worth $1.7 billion dollars at time of writing. The regime specifically plows these clandestinely obtained coins into weapons research and procurement circumventing global oversight.
North Korean hackers have gradually migrated away from ransomware campaigns toward supply chain attacks on third party infrastructure vital to exchanges and crypto service firms for bigger payouts. By hacking widely used development tools or IT management software for example, North Korean APTs can access numerous victims simultaneously instead of singling out cryptocurrency companies individually.
Research has traced millions in stolen crypto winding through money laundering conduits involving thousands of accounts and 12 different services to obscure the funds’ criminal origins – all back to North Korea.
While most examinations focus on Lazarus Group heists, cybersecurity analysts have now identified at least seven prominent North Korean hacking teams participating in cryptocurrency attacks:
- Lazarus Group
- Andariel
- Bluenoroff
- APT38
- APT37
- Scarcruft
- Kimsuky
Scarcruft in particular specializes in cyber espionage fueling North Korea’s weapons research rather than direct monetary theft. The breadth of North Korean hacking groups innovating in this space exemplifies cryptocurrency fraud‘s prioritization in North Korea‘s cyber operations planning.
As blockchain adoption continues across finance and tech internationally, North Korea‘s state-sponsored hackers will surely expand their capabilities targeting decentralized assets, exchanges, and critical infrastructure as sanctions leave few alternatives.
Conclusion
North Korea’s secretive cyber army has proven highly capable, adaptable, and ethically uninhibited carrying out global intrusions in support of the Kim dynasty despite international condemnation.
Cut off from legal trade, groups like the formidable Lazarus hackers provide crucial funding by targeting financial systems and cryptocurrencies to bankroll weapons research prohibited under global sanctions. Diplomatic efforts have failed to reverse North Korea’s cyber provocations which continue evolving in sophistication.
Observers fear overreliance on hacking may further erode any scruples of restraint as North Korea doubles down on cyber crime and ransomware to counter deepening national isolation. Without imposing actual multi-national consequences, North Korea will forge ahead bombarding banks, businesses, and infrastructure while sheltering criminal hackers.
Now you should have a comprehensive perspective on North Korea’s most dangerous cyber attack contingents! Comment any pressing questions and I’m happy to address them.
