National cybersecurity centers of Great Britain and South Korea have issued warnings about an increase in the number and complexity of cyber attacks on supplies in North Korea. According to the National Intelligence Service (NIS) and the National Cybersecurity Center (NCSC), the threats are targeted at the government, financial institutions, and the defense industry worldwide.
The departments released a statement explaining that North Korean hackers are employing various techniques, such as zero-day vulnerabilities, known shortcomings, and exploit manipulation, to achieve their goals. These goals correspond to the strategic interests of North Korea, which include gathering funds, espionage, and stealing intellectual property and advanced technologies from various industries, particularly defense.
In their warning, the NIS and NCSC emphasize that in a digital and interconnected world, attacks on supply chains can have significant consequences for the affected organizations. The prevention of such attacks requires implementing two-factor authentication, updating security systems, and monitoring networks for anomalous traffic.
The NCSC and NIS presented examples of attacks attributed to the Lazarus group, which is widely believed to be sponsored by North Korea’s cyber mission unit. Notably, one attack targeted the 3CX application’s supply chain, wherein hackers introduced malicious code into the program installer distributed through legitimate channels.
As a result of this attack, information about 3CX users, including accounting data, was stolen. Additionally, Windows installed programs capable of data theft from browsers, including browsing history.
These attacks by North Korea are part of the country’s ongoing efforts to violate global cybersecurity. They highlight the need for vigilance and international cooperation in the field of cybersecurity.