N. Korean Hacker Group behind Crypto Thefts across 100 Countries
Tokyo, Sept. 18 (Jiji Press)--Japan's National Police Agency said Friday that a North Korean hacker group was behind a cyberattack spanning more than 100 countries, including Japan, that led to the theft of cryptocurrency worth about 1.7 billion yen. The North Korean group, called WaterPlum, infected more than 30,000 devices with malware between December last year and July this year, steali...
Tokyo, September 18 - Japan's National Police Agency (NPA) has warned that a North Korean hacker collective, known as WaterPlum, orchestrated a cyberattack impacting over 100 nations, resulting in the theft of approximately 1.7 billion yen in cryptocurrency. This elaborate scheme, identified through a joint statement from seven organizations, including the NPA and the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, came to light as a part of the "public attribution" initiative to expose the perpetrators behind such malicious acts.
WaterPlum gained access to over 30,000 devices between December of the previous year and July this year by deploying malware disguised as technical assessments from supposed corporate headhunters. This malware was specifically designed to steal the login credentials of around 7,000 cryptocurrency accounts. The stolen funds were then transferred to accounts controlled by the North Korean group, with the majority believed to have originated from compromised accounts.
The NPA revealed that WaterPlum employed North Korean IT professionals stationed in North Korea, China, and Russia, who earned foreign currency by taking on remote programming jobs and other work under false identities. Consequently, hundreds of millions of yen have been funneled into North Korea over the years through this clandestine operation.
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