CONNECT WITH US
Cyber Security

Cyber Security

Justice Department says North Koreans have infiltrated dozens of U.S. companies

TechCrunch - Cyber Security logo

Published on

Add as a preferred source on Google
Justice Department says North Koreans have infiltrated dozens of U.S. companies

The U.S. Department of Justice is warning that hackers working for the North Korean regime are increasingly relying on Americans to facilitate the hacking of U.S. companies.

In an announcement on Tuesday, prosecutors said they have indicted and arrested at least two people, and conducted searches across dozens of suspected “laptop farms” in Texas. The computers were allegedly used by North Koreans to remotely hack into American companies and steal sensitive data.

According to the DOJ, federal authorities seized over 180 computers that they believe American companies had shipped out to their newly hired employees, not realizing that they were sanctioned North Korean spies who had used stolen identities of U.S. citizens to gain employment. The DOJ said that it raided over 40 laptop farms across Texas, the largest disclosed number of homes and residences used for facilitating North Korean hacks, which were owned by at least two American facilitators.

CrowdStrike, which helped the FBI investigate and disrupt the latest North Korean operations, said that laptop farms are “vital” to North Korea in helping its hackers overcome physical, financial, and legal challenges of not physically being in the United States.

The prosecutors said at least 70 U.S.-based companies had been infiltrated by the hackers, who are believed to have generated around $3 million in stolen funds. The DOJ did not name the affected companies, but described them as healthcare, cyber support, retail, communications, and manufacturing sectors across Ohio and 16 other states, including the District of Columbia.

“Increasingly, North Korean IT workers are turning to recruiting American facilitators to counter improved private sector detections and law enforcement actions.


Source link

Disclaimer

We strive to uphold the highest ethical standards in all of our reporting and coverage. We TheMorningPulse.fyi want to be transparent with our readers about any potential conflicts of interest that may arise in our work. It's possible that some of the investors we feature may have connections to other businesses, including competitors or companies we write about. However, we want to assure our readers that this will not have any impact on the integrity or impartiality of our reporting. We are committed to delivering accurate, unbiased news and information to our audience, and we will continue to uphold our ethics and principles in all of our work. Thank you for your trust and support.