North Korea-aligned hackers branching out into mobile phones: report

Source: The Hill




BY JOE UCHILL - 11/20/17 08:28 AM EST

The Lazarus Group, the North Korea-linked hacking group that famously attacked Sony Pictures in 2014, has made its first efforts to hack mobile phones, according to McAfee researchers.

"[Two weeks ago], the mobile team came to my team with malware targeting South Korea," McAfee Lead Scientist and Principal Engineer Christiaan Beek told The Hill. "It contained artifacts we had seen before."

The malware is transmitted through a tainted version of a Korean-language bible study application. The legitimate version of the app from the Google Play store has been downloaded 1,300 times. It is unclear where victims are downloading the fake version of the app.

Lazarus Group is best known in the United States for catastrophically interrupting business at Sony Pictures in response to the movie "The Interview," which depicted the assassination of Kim Jong Un. The group has also been attributed to destructive attacks on South Korea government systems and, since 2015, a series of digital bank robberies totaling hundreds of millions of dollars.

Read more: http://thehill.com/policy/cybersecurity/361166-north-korea-aligned-hackers-branching-out-into-mobile-phones-report