US sanctions North Korean hackers behind WannaCry, Sony cyberattacks

The Treasury Department said Lazarus Group, Bluenoroff and Andariel were behind major thefts from financial institutions

Washington said the attacks have been used to fund illicit weapon and missile programmes by Pyongyang

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The hacker groups are controlled by North Korea’s primary intelligence bureau. Photo: Reuters

Published: 11:40pm, 13 Sep 2019Updated: 8:34am, 14 Sep 2019

The US has sanctioned three North Korean state-sponsored groups that it says were responsible for hacking the interbank messaging system Swift and a ransomware attack called WannaCry 2.0 that crippled Britain’s National Health Service and Renault SA factories across Europe.

The Treasury Department said on Friday the hacking groups are commonly known as Lazarus Group, Bluenoroff and Andariel. The groups are controlled by North Korea’s primary intelligence bureau, Treasury said in a statement.

The US said the attacks have been used to fund illicit weapon and missile programmes by North Korea, which is under broad American sanctions over the country’s nuclear programme.

“We will continue to enforce existing US and UN sanctions against North Korea and work with the international community to improve cybersecurity of financial networks,” said Sigal Mandelker, Treasury’s under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence.

The US action builds on charges and sanctions imposed on an alleged member of the Lazarus group last year.