PYONGYANG (dpa-AFX) - The U.S. Department of the Treasury has imposed sanctions on the mastermind of an information technology worker scheme generating revenue for the North Korean Kim Regime.
The Treasury alleges that Song Kum Hyok, who is a malicious cyber actor linked with Pyongyang's military intelligence agency, known as the 'Reconnaissance General Bureau,' used foreign-hired IT workers to seek remote employment with U.S. companies and planned to split income with them.
As a notorious member of the hacking group Andariel, Song facilitated an IT worker scheme by recruiting North Korean nationals working from countries such as China and Russia with falsified identities and nationalities to obtain employment at U.S. companies to generate revenue for the Kim Jong Un regime. these IT workers have introduces malware into company networks for additional exploitation.
The Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control has also sanctioned Russia-based facilitator Gayk Asatryan and two Russian and two North Korean companies involved in deploying IT workers internationally to generate revenue for the North Korean government.
The U.S. State Department said North Korean regime uses revenue generated by these workers to support its unlawful weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs.
It has offered a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to the identification or location of persons who are working under the control of a foreign government and engage in malicious cyber activities against U.S. critical infrastructure.
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