Today, Wednesday, the US government warned that North Korean hackers are using banks around the world to make fraudulent money transfers and cause ATMs to spend money.
A cybersecurity technical warning co-written by 4 different federal agencies, including the Treasury and the FBI, stated that there is a resurgence in the financially motivated hacking efforts by the North Korean regime this year, after a lull in activity.
"Since February 2020, North Korea has resumed targeting banks in several countries, to initiate fraudulent international money transfers and cash disbursements from ATMs," the warning said.
US law enforcement agencies have dubbed the piracy campaign "Fast Cash" and blamed North Korea's General Reconnaissance Office, a spy agency. They described the operation as having been going on since at least 2016, but has recently increased in complexity and scale.
Over the past years, US authorities and cybersecurity companies have blamed North Korea for penetrating many banks in Asia, South America and Africa.
"North Korea's internet representatives have shown a creative talent in modifying their tactics to exploit the financial sector and any other sector through illegal cyber operations," said a senior cyber security official at the US Department of Homeland Security, Brian Ware.
Cybersecurity experts and foreign policy analysts said these types of hacking operations are being undertaken to help fund the North Korean government, which is straining financially due to the expanded sanctions imposed on it by the United States and other Western countries.
"The constant attacks are evidence of the system's reliance on these funds, in addition to being a testament to its technical ability and design," said Vikram Thakur, technical director of the US cybersecurity company Symantec.