Stealing information, pillaging millions, retaliating: North Korea deploys an entire army of undercover officers, according to US intelligence. Three agents were accused of organizing attacks in the United States. Kim Jong Us hackers are less interested in data and more interested in money.

The US Department of Justice accused three North Korean intelligence agents of organizing several cyberattacks. The US Justice Department said the three men attacked the companies’ computers and attempted to steal cryptocurrencies and real currency, which had a total value of $ 1.3 billion. They are also alleged to have developed virtual systems to bypass North Korea sanctions and covertly collect money.

The three agents monitored their cyber attacks from sites in North Korea, Russia and China. One of three Secret Service employees, Park Jin Hyuk, was already indicted by the US judiciary in federal court in Los Angeles in 2018. He was accused of hacking Sony Pictures Entertainment in 2014. The incident also drew attention to the potential for piracy in North Korea for the first time. The attack on the studio included revenge for the satirical movie “The Interview,” which mocked Kim.

The country needs money

According to intelligence agencies, North Korea now has thousands of hackers trying to infiltrate institutions, companies, and scientists in South Korea and around the world. John Demers, responsible for national security affairs at the Department of Justice, explained that illegal piracy activities from North Korea have different purposes than those from Russia, China or Iran, which include theft of intellectual property. “What we’re seeing almost exclusively in North Korea is an attempt to raise money through illegal electronic activities,” Demers said. “North Korean agents who use keyboards instead of weapons and steal digital wallets with cryptocurrency instead of bags of cash have become the largest bank robbers in the world,” Demers said. North Korea is one of the “most advanced national cyber actors in the world.”

Given the sanctions and the economic situation, the country needs money. North Korea is isolated internationally due to its nuclear program. North Korean Governor Kim Jong Un displayed new types of missiles during military parades in October and January, and expressed his intention to expand his country’s nuclear arsenal. A recent internal UN report showed that North Korea is also funding its nuclear weapons program through piracy activities, among other things. This will be implemented directly by North Korean intelligence.

Pyongyang is also suspected of stealing the equivalent of 67 million euros from the Central Bank of Bangladesh and about 50 million euros from a Taiwanese bank in the Far East of International in 2017. The state was also blamed for the global extortion attack WannaCry in 2017. North Korea denied everyone Allegations of cyber attacks.