"Persistent threat"

North Korean cyber espionage campaign exposed

The security authorities of the UK, the USA and South Korea have reportedly uncovered a cyber espionage campaign by North Korea. A group called Andariel had carried out cyberattacks on institutions around the world in order to "steal sensitive and classified technical data".

This was stated by the UK's National Cyber Security Center (NCSC) on Thursday. Andariel was identified as an arm of the North Korean secret service. The hacker group had pursued the goal of "advancing the regime's military and nuclear ambitions".

The cyberattacks particularly targeted institutions in the fields of defense, aerospace, nuclear and engineering sciences. However, attacks also took place in the fields of medicine and energy supply, including with ransomware. This contributed to the financing of Andariel's illegal activities by means of blackmail.

"Persistent threat"
"The global cyber espionage operation we uncovered today shows just how far North Korean-protected actors are willing to go to pursue their military and nuclear programs," said NCSC Director of Operations Paul Chichester, referring to Pyongyang. The US Cybersecurity Agency stated that countries such as Japan and India were also affected by the cyberattacks.

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation emphasized in a statement that Andariel remains "a persistent threat to a number of industries worldwide". For example, the hacker group had attempted to obtain detailed information on uranium processing and enrichment, missiles and missile defense.

The FBI called on companies in particularly threatened industries to "remain vigilant in defending their networks from North Korean state-sponsored actions".