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| ▲ This photo, released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency on Oct. 30, 2024, shows people attending an information technology product exhibition in Pyongyang. (For Use Only in South Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap) |
US-NK-sanctions
U.S. sanctions N.K. cyber actor for IT worker scheme to generate revenue for Kim regime
By Song Sang-ho
WASHINGTON, July 8 (Yonhap) -- The U.S. Treasury Department on Tuesday sanctioned a North Korean cyber actor accused of facilitating a scheme under which Pyongyang uses its overseas information technology (IT) workers to generate revenue for the recalcitrant regime.
The department's Office of Foreign Assets Control announced the sanction on Song Kum-hyok, describing him as a "malicious" actor associated with the sanctioned Reconnaissance General Bureau (RGB) hacking group Andariel. RGB is the North's key military intelligence agency.
"Song facilitated worker scheme in which individuals, often DPRK nationals working from countries such as China and Russia, were recruited and provided with falsified identities and nationalities to obtain employment at unwitting companies to generate revenue for the DPRK regime," the department said in a release. DPRK is short for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
"In some cases, these DPRK IT workers have been known to introduce malware into company networks for additional exploitation," it added.
The office also sanctioned one Russian national, two Russian entities and two North Korean entities, accusing them of being involved in an IT worker scheme.
"Today's action underscores the importance of vigilance on the DPRK's continued efforts to clandestinely fund its WMD and ballistic missile programs," Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Michael Faulkender said. WMD is short for weapons of mass destruction.
"Treasury remains committed to using all available tools to disrupt the Kim regime's efforts to circumvent sanctions through its digital asset theft, attempted impersonation of Americans, and malicious cyber-attacks."
The department underscored that the sanctions measure is part of the U.S. government's objective to counter the North's efforts to advance its strategic goals through cyber espionage and revenue generation.
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