N.Korean Hackers Are Working With European Criminals

North Korean state-backed hackers appear to be cooperating with Eastern European cybercriminals according the experts at Sentinel Labs, the newly created threat intelligence divison of SentinelOne. Their finding  suggests digital gangsters and state-backed spies are finding ways to work together online. 

Lazarus Group (also known as “Lazarus,” “Hidden Cobra,” and “Kimsuky”) is an advanced persistent threat (APT) group comprised of operators from “Bureau 121”, the cyber warfare division of North Korea’s clandestine Reconnaiance General Bureau (RGB0 intelligence unit. 

The group has been active since at least 2009 and isthought to operate fromf a multitude of international locations. The 
 Sentinel Labs researcers say that the Lazarus Group, which American prosecutors accuse of organising the leak of emails from Sony Pictures and stealing millions of dollars from the Central Bank of Bangladesh, is getting access to some of its victims through a cybercrime gang dubbed “TrickBot.” 

Lazarus appears to have been interested in a variety of sectors and targets in the last eighteen months, including crypto-currency exchanges, financial institutions, non-governmental organisations, and South Korean individuals. Many North Korea cyber operators are likely not only self-funded but also tasked with earning income for the North Korean regime; Lazarus Group has likely targeted banks crypto-currency exchanges and users to achieve this goal. “For me it’s the biggest crimeware story since I don’t-know-when,” said Vitali Kremez of SentinelOne. “The Lazarus group has a relationship with the most sophisticated, most resourceful Russian botnet operation on the landscape.” 

Clues that Lazarus and TrickBot operators are cooperating have surfaced before when in  April last year BAE researchers developed the theory that the cybercriminals were selling access to compromised organisations to Lazarus.

Subsequentky, the cybersecurity arm of Japanese telecommunications company NTT speculated here that North Korea might be collaborating with Lazarus and TrickBot's operators. Kremez said he found evidence. TrickBot communicated with a Lazarus-controlled server just a couple of hours before that same server was used to help break into the Chilean inter-bank network earlier this year, he said. American officials have also blamed the multi-million dollar heist on North Korea. “That’s the strongest possible evidence linking to a celebrated case of Lazarus intrusion,” said Kremez who also that he thinks the TrickBot operators were likely renting out its services to the North Koreans, or perhaps working on a commission basis. 

Kremez is supported by the experts at Cybereason, which has published a separate report on Trickbot's operations and are reported to be certain that the cybercriminals knew that they were dealing with the North Korean government. 

Sentinel One:            Reuters:         Cybereason: 

You Might Also Read:

N. Korea’s Hackers Stole $2b To Fund Its Missile Program: