North Korea Allegedly Hacked South Korea’s Nuclear Research Via VPN Vulnerability

The North Korean secret service is said to have penetrated the networks of various authorities and ambassadors. Explosive: Nuclear research institutions are also involved – the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute first confirmed an incident, then denied it.

The North Korean hacker group known as Kimsuky is currently being held responsible for a number of cyberattacks. This is reported by Reuters. Kimsuky broke into the network of South Korea’s state nuclear think tank, the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI), last month. The group had previously targeted South Korean COVID-19 vaccine developers and a state nuclear reactor operator, among others.

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KAERI recently announced that its internal networks were hacked last month by North Korean threat actors via a VPN vulnerability. The institute had previously first confirmed the incident to the media and then denied it again. In a press conference, the institute has now officially confirmed the attack and apologized for trying to cover up the incident.

As far as is known, the North Korean hacker group took advantage of a VPN vulnerability and got into the internal network. The Kimsuky group, also known by the names Thallium, Black Banshee, and Velvet Chollima, has targeted the South Korean government in particular.

Discovered more

“One of the baits used by Kimsuky called” 외교부 가판 2021-05-07 “means” Ministry of Foreign Affairs Edition 2021-05-07 “in Korean, suggesting that it is targeting the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of South Korea” , explains Malwarebytes’ report on the threat actor’s recent activity. “Based on the data we have collected, we have determined that this is a facility of great interest to Kimsuky.”

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Malwarebytes says Kimsuky has also targeted other South Korean government agencies in recent phishing attacks, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Commerce, the Deputy Consul General at the Korean Consulate General in Hong Kong, the Nuclear Safety Commissioner for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) , the Ambassador of Sri Lanka, and an advisor in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Investigations are still ongoing in the case of the nuclear research agency hack. At the moment it is unlikely to be known which data could be accessed.