N. Korea Is Ready For Global Cyber Conflict

It’s no secret that North Korea has a cyber army working in the shadows to attack western interests. The cyber-attack against Sony Pictures in 2014 made it clear that the nation had developed its cyber warfare capabilities much more than had been realised until then.

But now it appears that North Korea has set its sights on loftier goals, perhaps spreading chaos and even damage worldwide through a well-placed series of cyber-attacks on defense targets, industry and media.

Now, US-CERT and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have issued a series of warnings intended to provide the necessary information for organisations to prevent or reduce the likelihood of a successful North Korean infiltration. However, it the warning may be too late for some organisation because their networks have been infected by the components of Hidden Cobra, which refers to the collection of malware being used to attack targets in South Korea and elsewhere around the world.

Hidden Cobra is an umbrella operation that launches malware against a wide variety of targets that North Korea is studying, apparently for future action. 

According to Paul Innella, CEO of TDI Security, the goal of the Hidden Cobra operation appears to have changed. He said that North Korea has moved from running ransomware operations to something more sinister, information gathering.
“A lot of it is polling information on network infrastructure data,” Innella explained. “They’re trying to map out what we have.” He said that this operation already resulted in a breach that compromised planning between the military of South Korea and the United States.

Innella said that there’s been discussion recently about recent failures of North Korean rocket launches and whether those failures occurred as a result of cyber-attacks by the west. He said that it appears that the North Korean effort to map out the infrastructure of organisations in the West is a precursor to cyber-war.

Initially the attacks are likely to be against the military or launch systems, Innella said. But the plans of the North Koreans apparently go beyond that. The warnings from the Department of Homeland Security through US-CERT and the FBI indicate that there are also plans to attack the financial sector, aerospace and telecommunications using its FallChill malware, which is part of Hidden Cobra.

FallChill is a remote administration tool that evades detection by encrypting its communications traffic using TLS (transport layer security). The malware is able to use its remote administration capabilities to map out a network and then to report what it finds. The idea is that once FallChill has mapped out the networks (including the defenses) North Korea will know what and where to attack for best effect.

Fortunately, there is something that can be done about Hidden Cobra and its components. Innella pointed out that while North Korea and its cyber forces are persistent, they’re not unbeatable. 
“On the scale of global cyber warfare, I wouldn’t say they’re the most impressive adversary,” Innella said. He added that they’re not the equal of China or Russia in terms of their ability to wage cyber-war.
While Innella said that North Korea is a very big cyber-threat, most CISOs should be able to prevent them from exploiting their networks.
“There’s nothing significantly different about their attacks,” Innella said. “Any robust defense program is going to have some level of threat awareness. Your CISO you would have already seen the CERT notice and made the changes.”
The recommendations by US-CERT provides enough information to enable your network security team to perform the necessary white listing, and should also be able to see from their routers and firewalls whether any traffic from FallChill or its Trojan companion, Volgmer, has passed in or out of your network. 

The alerts include the IP addresses that the malware uses for reporting and for command and control, enabling your IT security specialists to block those addresses.

The US-CERT note also makes specific recommendations that are important for keeping the North Korean malware at bay. 
They include application whitelisting, so that you can prevent anything from running on your servers except specific software, keeping operating systems up to date, keeping your antivirus and anti-malware software up to date and by restricting permissions to the level that is required for people to do their jobs and nothing more.
In addition, the recommendations include making sure your staff knows not to click on unknown links and not to go to suspicious websites. Innella said that most of the infections he’s seeing started with visits to dubious sites where a user did something dumb, such as clicking on a link that downloaded malware.

US-CERT also urged organisation to train all staff to recognise and avoid email scams. 

Good system hygiene is critical, and most of the steps for avoiding it are the same whether the threat is from North Korea or a cyber-criminal trying to get rich on ransomware. The US-CERT note also makes specific recommendations that are important for keeping the North Korean malware at bay. They include application whitelisting, so that you can prevent anything from running on your servers except specific software, keeping operating systems up to date, keeping your antivirus and anti-malware software up to date and by restricting permissions to the level that is required for people to do their jobs and nothing more.

In addition, the recommendations include making sure your staff knows not to click on unknown links and not to go to suspicious websites. Innella said that most of the infections he’s seeing started with visits to dubious sites where a user did something dumb, such as clicking on a link that downloaded malware. 

US-CERT also urged organisation to train all staff to recognise and avoid email scams, and that you not enable to macros in email software. Perhaps the thought of Kim Jung  Un leafing through your intellectual property files is enough to drive home the idea. You know the things you have to do to be safe, but for them to work, you have to actually do them.

Ein News

You Might Also Read:

US Data Systems Under Attack:

Microsoft Chief Says N. Korea Was Behind 'WannaCry:

 

« Startups Are Changing The Future Of Cybersecurity
Apple Must Fix Its Embarrassing Password Bug »

Infosecurity Europe
CyberSecurity Jobsite
Perimeter 81

Directory of Suppliers

Alvacomm

Alvacomm

Alvacomm offers holistic VIP cybersecurity services, providing comprehensive protection against cyber threats. Our solutions include risk assessment, threat detection, incident response.

Authentic8

Authentic8

Authentic8 transforms how organizations secure and control the use of the web with Silo, its patented cloud browser.

MIRACL

MIRACL

MIRACL provides the world’s only single step Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) which can replace passwords on 100% of mobiles, desktops or even Smart TVs.

AtkinsRéalis

AtkinsRéalis

AtkinsRealis is a market-leading design, engineering and project management consultancy operating in fields ranging from infrastructure, through energy and transport to cybersecurity.

CionSystems

CionSystems

CionSystems provides identity, access and authentication solutions to improve security and streamline IT infrastructure management.

BPC Banking Technologies

BPC Banking Technologies

BPC’s advanced fraud prevention solution helps card issuers and acquirers combat the growing threat by monitoring 100% of transactions, online, in real-time across all channels.

Team8

Team8

Team8 is Israel’s most prestigious cybersecurity think tank and venture creation foundry.

CyberVista

CyberVista

CyberVista is a cybersecurity training education and workforce development company. Our mission is to eliminate the skills gap by creating job ready professionals.

CyberGRX

CyberGRX

The CyberGRX Exchange and our risk assessments-as-a-service help Enterprises and Third Parties cost-effectively identify, prioritize and mitigate risk.

eSec Forte Technologies

eSec Forte Technologies

eSec Forte Technologies is a CMMi Level 3 certified Global Consulting and IT Security Services company.

Crosspoint Capital Partners

Crosspoint Capital Partners

Crosspoint Capital Partners is a private equity investment firm focused on the cybersecurity and privacy sectors.

Shearwater Group

Shearwater Group

Shearwater Group is an award-winning organisational resilience group that provides cyber security, advisory and managed security services to help secure businesses in a connected global economy.

Stratus Technologies

Stratus Technologies

Edge Computing solves the inherent challenges of bandwidth, latency, and security at edge locations to enable IIoT devices and data acquisition.

MetaWeb Ventures

MetaWeb Ventures

MetaWeb Ventures is a global venture capital firm focused on pre-seed and seed investments in crypto start-ups.

Althammer & Kill

Althammer & Kill

Althammer & Kill offers pragmatic solution concepts for data protection and digitization. We advise in the field of data protection, information security and compliance.

Lab 1

Lab 1

Lab 1 turns criminal data breaches and attacks into insights. Get alerts of data breaches or ransomware attack incidents as they happen.

AArete

AArete

AArete is a global management and technology consulting firm specializing in strategic profitability improvement, digital transformation, and advisory services.

Domotz

Domotz

Domotz enables IT teams to monitor and manage their networks remotely, while ensuring that the security and the operational efficiency of their organizations are properly maintained.

IDVerse

IDVerse

IDVerse is focused on making user verification effortless through technology. We build intelligent tools that protect users from identity fraud while enabling a seamless user experience.

CYTUR

CYTUR

CYTUR provide trusted and secured maritime cybersecurity solutions to keep ships safe, protecting them, their crews, cargo and all stakeholders from maritime cyber threats.

Lakera

Lakera

Lakera empowers developers and organizations to build GenAI applications without worrying about AI security risks.