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Hackers Target Crypto-Currency Exchanges in South Korea, Techniques Similar to WannaCry and SPE Attacks

 

According to one report, hackers receiving support of North Korea government have been found targeting customers of crypto-currency exchange in South Korea employing likewise methodologies as during the cyber assault against SPE (Sony Pictures Entertainment) as well as the WannaCry ransom software attack.

 

Lazarus, name of the hackers' syndicate employed several techniques while attacking people. A particular one abused vulnerability in a program called Hangul a word processor in Korean language, explains Recorded Future a cyber security company.

 

The attacked targets also include entities using the crypto-currency exchange Coinlink, along with other exchanges within SK as well as one students group known as Friends of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. After analyzing the malicious software, Recorded Future stated the assaults during late 2017 against SK crypto-currency exchanges along with their customers happened to be the work of Lazarus the hackers' team earlier having ties to NK.

 

It was during the middle of October-November that the malware got developed when bitcoin started increasing astonishingly. The Monero and Ethereum crypto-currencies too experienced massive hikes during the past months, says the report. Money.cnn.com posted this, January 17, 2018.

 

Recorded Future the writer of the report highlights the way the hackers' group employed malicious software for attacking users of South Korea-based prominent crypto-currency exchange Coinlink. According to security experts, the assault's place of origin is North Korea because the code used has similar characteristics while also when employed within earlier operations. The experts stated they noticed the malicious code having characteristics similar to the one of the Lazarus Group.

 

Moreover, the code had Chinese terms, seemingly to mislead investigators. In another instance earlier as well, Lazarus incorporated Russian terms within the code they used.

 

The techniques of assault are even likewise the ones utilized for breaching Sony Pictures back during 2014 as also the 2017 WannaCry ransomware assault that held people's PCs at ransom demanding Bitcoin payments. And as exchanges in SK toughen their networks as well as the government implements stringer control measures for crypto-currencies, it's an alert for exchanges along with their users within other nations to become wary about increasing danger from NK actors.

» SPAMfighter News - 1/24/2018

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