• Home
  • Cyber Crime
  • Cyber warfare
  • APT
  • Data Breach
  • Deep Web
  • Digital ID
  • Hacking
  • Hacktivism
  • Intelligence
  • Internet of Things
  • Laws and regulations
  • Malware
  • Mobile
  • Reports
  • Security
  • Social Networks
  • Terrorism
  • ICS-SCADA
  • POLICIES
  • Contact me
MUST READ

Salt Typhoon breach: Chinese APT compromises U.S. Army National Guard network

 | 

Former US Army member confesses to Telecom hack and extortion conspiracy

 | 

CVE-2025-6554 marks the fifth actively exploited Chrome Zero-Day patched by Google in 2025

 | 

DDoS peaks hit new highs: Cloudflare mitigated massive 7.3 Tbps assault

 | 

U.S. CISA adds Wing FTP Server flaw to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

 | 

Android Malware Konfety evolves with ZIP manipulation and dynamic loading

 | 

Belk hit by May cyberattack: DragonForce stole 150GB of data

 | 

North Korea-linked actors spread XORIndex malware via 67 malicious npm packages

 | 

FBI seized multiple piracy sites distributing pirated video games

 | 

An attacker using a $500 radio setup could potentially trigger train brake failures or derailments from a distance

 | 

Interlock ransomware group deploys new PHP-based RAT via FileFix

 | 

Global Louis Vuitton data breach impacts UK, South Korea, and Turkey

 | 

Experts uncover critical flaws in Kigen eSIM technology affecting billions

 | 

Spain awarded €12.3 million in contracts to Huawei

 | 

Patch immediately: CVE-2025-25257 PoC enables remote code execution on Fortinet FortiWeb

 | 

Wing FTP Server flaw actively exploited shortly after technical details were made public

 | 

SECURITY AFFAIRS MALWARE NEWSLETTER ROUND 53

 | 

Security Affairs newsletter Round 532 by Pierluigi Paganini – INTERNATIONAL EDITION

 | 

McDonald’s job app exposes data of 64 Million applicants

 | 

Athlete or Hacker? Russian basketball player accused in U.S. ransomware case

 | 
  • Home
  • Cyber Crime
  • Cyber warfare
  • APT
  • Data Breach
  • Deep Web
  • Digital ID
  • Hacking
  • Hacktivism
  • Intelligence
  • Internet of Things
  • Laws and regulations
  • Malware
  • Mobile
  • Reports
  • Security
  • Social Networks
  • Terrorism
  • ICS-SCADA
  • POLICIES
  • Contact me
  • Home
  • APT
  • Breaking News
  • Cyber warfare
  • Hacking
  • Malware
  • DPRK fund malicious cyber activities with ransomware attacks on critical Infrastructure

DPRK fund malicious cyber activities with ransomware attacks on critical Infrastructure

Pierluigi Paganini February 10, 2023

North Korea-linked APT groups conduct ransomware attacks against healthcare and critical infrastructure facilities to fund its activities.

Ransomware attacks on critical infrastructure conducted by North Korea-linked hacker groups are used by the government of Pyongyang to fund its malicious cyber operations, U.S. and South Korean agencies warn.

US CISA published a Cybersecurity Advisory (CSA) to provide information about the threat actors to network defenders. The joint CSA about ongoing ransomware activity against Healthcare and Public Health Sector organizations and other critical infrastructure sector entities is the result of the collaboration between the United States National Security Agency (NSA), the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Republic of Korea (ROK) National Intelligence Service (NIS), and the ROK Defense Security Agency (DSA) (hereafter referred to as the “authoring agencies”).

“This advisory highlights TTPs and IOCs DPRK cyber actors used to gain access to and conduct ransomware attacks against Healthcare and Public Health (HPH) Sector organizations and other critical infrastructure sector entities, as well as DPRK cyber actors’ use of cryptocurrency to demand ransoms.” reads the joint advisory.

The proceeds from ransom payments are used by the North Korean government to fund malicious activities, including cyber operations against the United States and South Korea.

The list of targets includes Department of Defense Information Networks and Defense Industrial Base member networks.

Some of the ransomware families attributed to North Korea-linked APT groups are Maui, Holy Ghost, and VHD.

The government agencies detailed TTPs associated with North Korean APT groups such as:

  • Acquire Infrastructure [T1583]. Threat actors generate domains, personas, and accounts; and identify cryptocurrency services to conduct their ransomware operations.
  • Obfuscate Identity. Threat actors purposely obfuscate their involvement by operating with or under third-party foreign affiliate identities and use third-party foreign intermediaries to receive ransom payments.
  • Purchase VPNs and VPSs [T1583.003]. threat actors use virtual private networks (VPNs) and virtual private servers (VPSs) or third-country IP addresses to hide the origin of the attacks.
  • Gain Access [TA0001]. Threat actors use various exploits of common vulnerabilities, including CVE 2021-44228, CVE-2021-20038, and CVE-2022-24990. The advisory also states that the attackers employed Trojanized files for “X-Popup,” an open source messenger commonly used by employees of small and medium hospitals in South Korea, in their attacks.
  • Move Laterally and Discovery [TA0007, TA0008]. Attackers use staged payloads with customized malware to perform reconnaissance activities, upload and download additional files and executables, and execute shell commands [T1083, T1021]. The malware is also used for collecting victim information and sending it to the remote host [TA0010].
  • Employ Various Ransomware Tools [TA0040]. Attackers used privately developed ransomware, such as Maui and H0lyGh0st along with other ransomware families, including BitLocker, Deadbolt, ech0raix, GonnaCry, Hidden Tear, Jigsaw, LockBit 2.0, My Little Ransomware, NxRansomware, Ryuk, and YourRansom [T1486].
  • Demand Ransom in Cryptocurrency. Nation state actors demanded ransom payments in bitcoin [T1486]. They communicate with victims via Proton Mail email accounts.

The agencies recommend organizations to limit access to data by authenticating and encrypting connections, implement the principle of least privilege, turn off weak or unnecessary network device management interfaces, enforce multi-layer network segmentation, protect stored data, require phishing-resistant authentication controls, use monitoring tools, and maintain periodic data backups.

Follow me on Twitter: @securityaffairs and Facebook and Mastodon

Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, North Korea-linked APT)


facebook linkedin twitter

Hacking hacking news information security news IT Information Security malware North Korea Pierluigi Paganini ransomware Security Affairs Security News

you might also like

Pierluigi Paganini July 16, 2025
Salt Typhoon breach: Chinese APT compromises U.S. Army National Guard network
Read more
Pierluigi Paganini July 16, 2025
Former US Army member confesses to Telecom hack and extortion conspiracy
Read more

leave a comment

newsletter

Subscribe to my email list and stay
up-to-date!

    recent articles

    Salt Typhoon breach: Chinese APT compromises U.S. Army National Guard network

    Intelligence / July 16, 2025

    Former US Army member confesses to Telecom hack and extortion conspiracy

    Cyber Crime / July 16, 2025

    CVE-2025-6554 marks the fifth actively exploited Chrome Zero-Day patched by Google in 2025

    Hacking / July 16, 2025

    DDoS peaks hit new highs: Cloudflare mitigated massive 7.3 Tbps assault

    Security / July 16, 2025

    U.S. CISA adds Wing FTP Server flaw to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

    Hacking / July 16, 2025

    To contact me write an email to:

    Pierluigi Paganini :
    pierluigi.paganini@securityaffairs.co

    LEARN MORE

    QUICK LINKS

    • Home
    • Cyber Crime
    • Cyber warfare
    • APT
    • Data Breach
    • Deep Web
    • Digital ID
    • Hacking
    • Hacktivism
    • Intelligence
    • Internet of Things
    • Laws and regulations
    • Malware
    • Mobile
    • Reports
    • Security
    • Social Networks
    • Terrorism
    • ICS-SCADA
    • POLICIES
    • Contact me

    Copyright@securityaffairs 2024

    We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept All”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent.
    Cookie SettingsAccept All
    Manage consent

    Privacy Overview

    This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities...
    Necessary
    Always Enabled
    Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
    Non-necessary
    Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
    SAVE & ACCEPT