North Korea has deployed an army of hackers called “Hidden Cobra” against financial, aerospace, critical infrastructure and media assets within the U.S. and around the world over the past eight years, according to a technical alert issued jointly by Homeland Security and the FBI.
Cyber tools deployed by North Korea include DDoS botnets, keyloggers, remote access tools and various malware. The U.S. blamed North Korea for the Sony cyberattack that occurred shortly before the release of The Interview; and code from that attack and an $80 million Bangladesh Bank heist were linked. North Korea may also be behind the WannaCry ransomware attack that recently took down many PCs using a backdoor NSA hack that was leaked to the public.
Many of these attacks rely on vulnerabilities in old Windows platforms, as well as in Flash and Silverlight. Authorities recommend keeping Windows up to date.
The hermit state has been launching increasingly aggressive attacks against finance, energy and transportation, and they’re “preparing for something fairly significant,” warns the security firm FireEye.
