US: North Korean cyberattacks pose ‘significant threat’ to global financial system

The US government has issued an advisory warning that North Korea is engaged in an array of ‘malicious cyber activities’ that threaten the United States, the international community, and the global financial system.

The 15 April joint advisory by the US State Department, the Treasury, Homeland Security and the FBI accuses Pyongyang of using cyberattacks to circumvent US and UN sanctions and fund its weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programmes.

North Korea’s ‘malicious cyber activities threaten the United States and the broader international community and, in particular, pose a significant threat to the integrity and stability of the international financial system,’ the advisory warns.

Pyongyang has the capability to conduct ‘disruptive or destructive cyber activities affecting U.S. critical infrastructure,’ it ‘uses cyber capabilities to steal from financial institutions,’ and has ‘demonstrated a pattern of disruptive and harmful cyber activity that is wholly inconsistent with the growing international consensus on what constitutes responsible State behavior in cyberspace.’

The online attacks are said to include cyber-enabled financial theft and money laundering, extortion campaigns and cryptojacking. According to the advisory, some of the most significant attacks by Pyongyang include the 2014 hacking of Sony Pictures Entertainment, the Bangladesh Bank heist in 2016 and the WannaCry ransomware attack the year after.

‘It is vital for the international community, network defenders, and the public to stay vigilant and to work together to mitigate the cyber threat posed by North Korea,’ the advisory says.

https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/OFAC-Enforcement/Pages/2020