{"id":465802,"date":"2022-06-20T18:31:41","date_gmt":"2022-06-20T15:31:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/the-intersection-of-hacking-and-organized-crime\/"},"modified":"2022-06-20T18:31:41","modified_gmt":"2022-06-20T15:31:41","slug":"the-intersection-of-hacking-and-organized-crime","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/the-intersection-of-hacking-and-organized-crime\/","title":{"rendered":"#The intersection of hacking and organized crime"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a276a7f284c5\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a276a7f284c5\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/the-intersection-of-hacking-and-organized-crime\/#%E2%80%9CThe_intersection_of_hacking_and_organized_crime%E2%80%9D\" >&#8220;The intersection of hacking and organized crime&#8221;<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-4' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-4'><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-4' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-4'><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-4' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-4'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/the-intersection-of-hacking-and-organized-crime\/#Having_trouble_growing_your_audience\" >Having trouble growing your audience?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/the-intersection-of-hacking-and-organized-crime\/#1_Cosmos_Co_Op_bank\" >1. Cosmos Co Op bank<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/the-intersection-of-hacking-and-organized-crime\/#2_The_Bank_of_Valletta\" >2. The Bank of Valletta<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CThe_intersection_of_hacking_and_organized_crime%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>&#8220;The intersection of hacking and organized crime&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/img-cdn.tnwcdn.com\/image?fit=796%2C417&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn0.tnwcdn.com%2Fwp-content%2Fblogs.dir%2F1%2Ffiles%2F2022%2F06%2FUntitled-design-90-8.jpg&amp;signature=35b6cec342a5c6f5096b2a8e67be9887\" \/><\/p>\n<div id=\"article-main-content\">\n                            While the vast majority of citizens in North Korea don\u2019t have access to the global internet, the country has become a hacking superpower \u2014 but how?<\/p>\n<p>Speaking at the TNW Conference 2022, Author and Investigative Journalist Geoff White addressed this perplexing contradiction.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe case of North Korea is unique in the world, and therefore its computer hackers are absolutely unique in the world as well,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n<div class=\"inarticle-wrapper channel-cta\">\n<div class=\"ica-text\">\n<h4><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Having_trouble_growing_your_audience\"><\/span>Having trouble growing your audience?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h4>\n<p>5 omnichannel strategies that actually work<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The fact that most governments employ computer hackers isn\u2019t <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">news<\/a>. They employ them to obtain advantageous information that they can use to advance their country\u2019s position.<\/p>\n<p>As per White, North Korean hackers do something slightly different. They go after cash as well.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s because North Korea is economically isolated from the rest of the world, as it\u2019s subject to international financial sanctions. It needs to find alternative monetary resources.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo the accusation is it\u2019s tasked its government hackers to go out and steal money for the regime,\u201d White added. \u201cResearchers call these hackers the Lazarus Group.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>But hacking is just the start of it. If I hack your bank accounts, and I steal your money, that\u2019s fine, but I\u2019ve got to put it somewhere. I\u2019ve got to launder the money and I\u2019ve got to get access to it. Computer hackers aren\u2019t necessarily the best at all of that other stuff.<\/p>\n<p>But I\u2019ll tell you who is\u2026 organized criminals. And so North Korea\u2019s hackers have started working with organized crime, which can provide the necessary networks.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>To elaborate how the country\u2019s government hackers get into bed with organized criminals, White provided the TNW audience with two examples of alleged North Korean cyberattacks.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"1_Cosmos_Co_Op_bank\"><\/span>1. Cosmos Co Op bank<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Back in 2018, the Lazarus Group infiltrated the Indian bank through phishing emails sent to employees.<\/p>\n<p>Once inside the bank\u2019s system, they navigated their way to the ATM payment system and manipulated every ATM withdrawal request that went into Cosmos Co Op bank.<\/p>\n<p>They took the details of 450 genuine legitimate account holders (account number, pin code, personal data, etc.), and they sent those details to their accomplices around the world. Then, they had their accomplices create fake cloned ATM cards for those accounts.<\/p>\n<p>That way, they made $11 million, withdrawn in 29 countries \u2014 within two hours and 13 minutes.<\/p>\n<p>The question here is who coordinated the attack, White noted.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Based on investigators\u2019 findings, it\u2019s <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fbi.gov\/wanted\/cyber\/park-jin-hyok\">Park Yin Hyok<\/a>. According to the US Department of Justice, he\u2019s a member of the elite North Korean hacking unit.<\/p>\n<p>But how could he coordinate the attack in 29 different countries from Pyongyang, North Korea\u2019s capital city? For that he needs accomplices and what\u2019s the best place to look? The dark web, of course.<\/p>\n<p>There he found someone calling himself \u201cBig Boss,\u201d who turned out to have the necessary skill set. He can clone cards and also has a network of runners \u2014 money mules, who can go to the ATMs and make withdrawals.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"2_The_Bank_of_Valletta\"><\/span>2. The Bank of Valletta<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The first cooperation of the Lazarus Group and Big Boss was so successful that in 2019 they attacked the Bank of Valletta in Malta.<\/p>\n<p>Once again, they found their way into the bank through phishing emails. But this time the hackers didn\u2019t do any ATM withdrawals. White\u2019s theory is that they used SWIFT, seeking to bypass the previous challenge of somehow sending the cashed out money to North Korea.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Now the problem with SWIFT is that you need a bank account to put the money into. But which account were they going to use? Kim Jong-un courtesy of Pyongyang central bank? I don\u2019t think so.<\/p>\n<p>They needed accounts that they could put the money in, and then launder it through. Luckily for the hackers, Big Boss had the perfect man for the job: \u201c<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Hushpuppi\">HushPuppi<\/a>.\u201d He had bank accounts around the world that can be used for money laundering.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>This time they stole $13 million. Luckily, Big Boss was arrested shortly after in the US for another criminal activity, which led to the arrest of HushPuppi as well in Dubai.<\/p>\n<p>While both are sentenced to prison, Park Yin Hyok is yet to face justice. \u201cFor its part, North Korea says these allegations are a smear campaign by the US and that they have nothing to do with these computer hacking campaigns,\u201d White explained.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re interested in finding out more about the activities of the Lazarus Group, you listen to Geoff White\u2019s <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/programmes\/w13xtvg9\/episodes\/downloads\">podcast<\/a> <em>The Lazarus Heist<\/em>, or read his homonymous <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.penguin.co.uk\/books\/447\/447163\/the-lazarus-heist\/9780241554258.html\">book<\/a>.\n                        <\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more like this article, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/technology\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Technology category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/news\/north-koreas-global-cyber-war-the-intersection-of-hacking-and-organized-crime\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;The intersection of hacking and organized crime&#8221; While the vast majority of citizens in North Korea don\u2019t have access to the global internet, the country has become a hacking superpower \u2014 but how? Speaking at the TNW Conference 2022, Author and Investigative Journalist Geoff White addressed this perplexing contradiction. \u201cThe case of North Korea is&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":465803,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/img-cdn.tnwcdn.com\/image\/tnw?filter_last=1&fit=1280,640&url=https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2022\/06\/Untitled-design-90-8.jpg&signature=9999356409eb927d70e1836e655cbc4d","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-465802","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/465802","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=465802"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/465802\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/465803"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=465802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=465802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=465802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}