North Korean hackers are targeting banks, U.S. warns

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North Korean hackers are targeting banks, U.S. warns

 
North Korean hackers are targeting banks across the world in online heist attempts aimed at generating funds for the cash-strapped regime, the U.S. government warned in an alert issued Wednesday.
 
The U.S. Treasury Department and three federal agencies including the FBI said in the alert that hackers attempted to initiate fraudulent money transfers and ATM "cash outs" from multiple countries that appeared to be part of the North’s “extensive, global cyber-enabled bank robbery scheme.”
 
The group responsible for the acts was identified as “BeagleBoyz,” according to the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), believed to be one of many teams controlled by North Korea’s Reconnaissance General Bureau to undertake cybercrimes across the world.  
 
Such illicit activities generate substantial revenue for the regime, and could possibly be used for building nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles banned by United Nations resolutions, the alert said.  
 
Since 2015, the group has attempted to steal nearly $2 billion across the world, including from South Korea, Japan and India, exploiting critical banking systems in ways that eroded confidence in those institutions, the alert continued.  
 
BeagleBoyz was also behind “sophisticated cyber-enabled ATM cash-out campaigns” known as “FASTCash,” which has involved installing malware in bank servers to allow cash withdrawals.  
 
“The group has always used a calculated approach, which allows them to sharpen their tactics, techniques and procedures while evading detection,” the alert read. “Over time, their operations have become increasingly complex and destructive.”
 
BY SHIM KYU-SEOK   [shim.kyuseok@joongang.co.kr]
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