2023-08-20 07:40:00
Hackers suspected of being part of the North Korean group ‘Kimsuky’ carried out ‘malicious email attacks’ against South Korean staff working at the Seoul and Washington War Simulation Center, police say Gyeonggi Nambu Province, South Korean police said in a statement on Sunday.
South Korea and the United States are due to begin the joint military exercises called “Ulchi Freedom Shield” on Monday, which are supposed to run until August 31 in response to the growing threat posed by North Korea.
“A police investigation has confirmed that the North Korean hacker group is behind this attack,” police said, adding that no military data was compromised.
An intelligence mission
Active since 2012, this group targets individuals and organizations in South Korea, Japan and the United States, focusing on foreign policy and national security issues related to the Korean peninsula, nuclear policy and the international sanctions, explained the American federal agency, whose discoveries date back to 2020.
A joint investigation by South Korean police and the US military has traced the IP address used by the hackers, which was linked to an IP address identified in 2014 during a cyberattack on an operator nuclear reactor in South Korea. This attack was attributed to the “Kimsuky” group.
This group of hackers uses a phishing technique, which consists of sending booby-trapped attachments in seemingly innocent emails, to obtain information from its victims.
According to the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, “Kimsuky” is likely tasked by the North Korean government with intelligence missions on a global scale.
(with AFP)
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