The US Army has revealed that North Korea has more than 6,000 hackers stationed in countries such as Belarus, China, India, Malaysia, Russia, among others.
It has been reported that the operations of four subdivisions are overseen by “Bureau 121,” the cyber warfare guidance unit of the hermit nation.
However, the report, named “North Korean Tactics” suggests that the hackers don’t exclusively launch cyberattacks from North Korea itself, as the country lacks the IT infrastructure to deploy the massive campaigns.
The “financial crime division” called the Bluenoroff Group has around 1,700 members and is dedicated to crypto crimes “by concentrating on long-term assessment and exploiting enemy network vulnerabilities.”
The U.S. Army says North Korea’s Bureau 121 has four cybercrime divisions and 6000 hackers, reports @conexiondigicol https://t.co/D7OWVFDjNt — Cointelegraph (@Cointelegraph) August 19, 2020
Likewise, the Lazarus Group has conducted numerous high profile cryptocurrency exchange hacks and unleashed the WannaCry malware between 2016 and 2017. It was also behind the infamous Sony Pictures hack.
According to the report, its mission is to “create social chaos by weaponizing enemy network vulnerabilities and delivering a payload if directed to do so by the regime.” The US Army was unable to estimate how many hackers are in the division.
Thus, the North Korea-based cybercriminals are suspected to be using untraceable privacy coins to convert stolen funds into cash.
Source: Cointelegraph | Image: Reddit
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