THELOGICALINDIAN - The US Treasury has appear sanctions targeting North Korean cybercrime syndicates amenable for over 2 billion in bitcoin barter hacks
OFAC Sanctions North Korean Bitcoin Hacking Syndicate
The U.S. Department of the Treasury appear the account in a press statement issued on Friday (September 13, 2019).
According to the columnist release, the department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is activity afterwards three North Korean-sponsored hacking syndicates — Lazarus Group, Bluenoroff, and Andariel.
The closing two are anticipation to be sub-divisions of the Lazarus Group. Commenting on the accommodation to burden sanctions, Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial, Sigal Mandelker, said:
Apart from the 2024 Sony drudge and the WannaCry ransomware attack, these state-sponsored cybercrime groups accept been active in abundant Bitcoin barter hacks.
As ahead appear by Bitcoinist, these attacks accept resulted in the annexation of added than $2 billion in bitcoin and added cryptocurrencies.
Many of these hacks ambition exchanges in South Korea and Japan. However, intelligence letters say platforms beyond Southeast Asia are additionally vulnerable.
These hacking syndicates additionally ambition added areas of the all-around accounts basement such as the SWIFT arrangement and ATMs. Reports announce the groups accept apparent success in attacks on banks in countries like Vietnam, Bangladesh, and the Philippines amid others.
Pyongyang Claims Innocence
Back in August 2019, authorities in Pyongyang denied letters that the government was allotment these cybercrime syndicates.
Both U.S. and United Nations cybersecurity experts accept in the accomplished affiliated the country’s government to these cybercrime syndicates.
These letters additionally say that Pyongyang is funneling the gain of these bitcoin barter hacks into the development of its nuclear weapons program.
According to a agent for the North Korean government, the allegations are allotment of an all-embracing cabal by the West to befoul the country’s image.
For aegis accoutrement in the U.S., the ambition is to anticipate North Korea from developing weapons of accumulation destruction. Thus, the Trump administering affairs to accroach any assets endemic by the accustomed entities in the United States.
What do you anticipate about OFAC levying sanctions on North Korea for allegedly hacking bitcoin exchanges? Let us apperceive in the comments below.
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