North Korean indicted in US ransomware attack; $10m reward offered
A US grand jury indicted North Korean national Rim Jong Hyok in a case of conspiracy to hack and extort hospitals, launder the ransom proceeds and use them to fund computer intrusions into defence, technology, and government entities worldwide.
The ransomware attacks also prevented victimised institutions from providing timely care to patients, according to a release from the US Department of Justice.
The State Department offered a reward offer of up to $10 million for information leading to the location or identification of Rim.
“North Korean hackers developed custom tools to target and extort US health-care providers and used their ill-gotten gains to fund a spree of hacks into government, technology, and defence entities worldwide, all while laundering money through China,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division.
According to court documents, Rim and his co-conspirators worked for North Korea’s Reconnaissance General Bureau, a military intelligence agency, and are known in the private sector as “Andariel,” “Onyx Sleet,” and “APT45.”
The Justice Department and the FBI seized about $114,000 in crypto proceeds from the ransomware attacks and related money-laundering transactions, as well as online accounts used by the group.
The FBI had previously seized about $500,000 in crypto from the group’s attacks and money laundering.
