Gmail key to tracking down North Korean Park Jin-hyok who is accused of hacking Sony and spreading WannaCry virus

Free email services were used for routine business as well as for phishing attacks and other crimes by a company identified as the Korean Expo Joint Venture, according to US justice department

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First Assistant US Attorney Tracy Wilkison announces charges against Park Jin-hyok, a North Korean national. Photo: AFP

Published: 11:20am, 7 Sep 2018Updated: 10:16pm, 7 Sep 2018

Clues found in free email services such as Gmail helped US investigators track down a North Korean hacker charged on Thursday with crimes stemming from the 2014 attack on Sony Pictures Entertainment and the 2017 “WannaCry” ransomware operation.

The email services were used for routine business as well as for phishing attacks and other crimes by a company identified as the Korean Expo Joint Venture, a front group for the North Korean government, according to a justice department complaint filed in Los Angeles on Thursday.

The department lodged criminal charges against Park Jin-hyok, a North Korean national who works for the company and allegedly belongs to a group of conspirators known as the Lazarus Group. The treasury department simultaneously imposed sanctions against Park and his employer.

FBI Special Agent-in-Charge Jennifer Boone discusses charges against Park. Photo: AFP

“The scale and scope of the cybercrimes alleged by the complaint is staggering and offensive to all who respect the rule of law and the cyber norms accepted by responsible nations,” John Demers, head of the justice department’s National Security Division, said.

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