SEOUL — Two South Koreans have been arrested on costs of stealing army secrets and techniques on behalf of a suspected North Korean spy agent who paid them in cryptocurrency, the police mentioned on Thursday.
A 38-year-old government at a cyber-currency firm met the agent by means of a web based cryptocurrency group six years in the past and has been paid $600,000 in cryptocurrency since February final yr to work for him, the South Korean nationwide police mentioned. Together, the manager and the agent tried to hack into the South Korean army’s command communication system, however failed.
They succeeded, nevertheless, in recruiting a 29-year-old South Korean army officer, who helped steal categorized army information by taking footage with a smartphone, the police mentioned. The police didn’t present particulars concerning the stolen information, however mentioned that the officer was paid about $38,000 in cryptocurrency by the agent.
The two South Koreans had been arrested earlier this month and now face prison costs of breaking the nation’s National Security Act. The South Korean police mentioned they might not arrest the agent, who was working from overseas, however mentioned that they believed he was a hacker working for the North Korean authorities.
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South and North Korea have remained technically at conflict since 1950. For a long time, the 2 Koreas have waged intelligence and counterespionage campaigns. In current years, the conflict has more and more shifted into our on-line world.
North Korea runs a military of hackers skilled to disrupt enemy pc networks and steal money and delicate information. With its commerce crippled by each the pandemic and United Nations sanctions, North Korea has more and more relied on cyberattacks that focus on cryptocurrency and blockchain platforms, based on American and South Korean intelligence businesses.
On Wednesday, the U.S. cybersecurity agency Symantec mentioned {that a} North Korean-linked hacker group often called Stonefly lately breached an engineering firm with army ties.
“Virtually all of the technologies it appears to be interested in have military as well as civilian uses and some could have applications in the development of advanced weaponry,” Symantec mentioned, describing the hacker group’s actions in a weblog publish.
Earlier this month, the United States authorities blamed one other North Korean hacking group, often called Lazarus, for a $620 million cryptocurrency heist.
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Despite its financial difficulties, North Korea runs a vigorous nuclear weapons and missile improvement program. On Monday, North Korea held a army parade the place its chief, Kim Jong-un, watched its newly developed missiles and vowed to spice up his nuclear arsenal “at the fastest possible speed.”
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