The tool, known as a remote access trojan, has been used by North Korean hackers in previous cyberattacks on Turkish banks and other victims, stealing passwords and other data. The successful installation was a red flag, researchers said, that North Korea made it further into the Israeli networks than officials let on.
Full Answer
What is the North Korean rat Trojan?
The trojan was attributed by the two agencies to the North Korean government-sponsored hacking group tracked as HIDDEN COBRA (aka Lazarus Group and APT38). According to the agencies' analysis, the RAT comes with "built-in functions for remote operations that provide various capabilities on a victim’s system."
Is North Korea hacking South Korea with rokrat Trojan?
A North Korean hacking group is utilizing the RokRat Trojan in a fresh wave of campaigns against the South Korean government.
What are the North Korean malware variants exposed by US government?
Three more North Korean malware variants were exposed in May, including a remote access tool known as COPPERHEDGE and used in attacks against cryptocurrency exchanges, and two trojans known as TAINTEDSCRIBE and PEBBLEDASH. The US govt issued six other security advisories with info on North Korean malware in mid-February exposing:
What is remote access trojan (RAT)?
The Remote Access Trojan (RAT) has been connected to attacks based on the exploit of a Korean language word processor commonly used in South Korea for several years; specifically, the compromise of Hangul Office documents (.HWP).
North Korean Malicious Cyber Activity
The information contained in the Alerts, Advisories, and MARs listed below is the result of analytic efforts between CISA, FBI, the U.S. Departments of Homeland Security (DHS), Defense (DoD), and Treasury; and U.S. Cyber Command; to provide technical details on the tools and infrastructure used by cyber actors of the North Korean government.
Report Activity Related to This Threat
CISA encourages all organizations to urgently report any additional information related to this threat. Users and administrators should flag associated activity, report the activity to CISA (see below) or FBI Cyber Watch (CyWatch)
Mitigate and Detect this Threat
CISA recommends users and administrators review the publications in the North Korean Malicious Cyber Activity section as well as the following resources for descriptions of tactics and techniques associated with this threat and recommended mitigations and detections. Note: unless specifically stated, neither CISA nor the U.S.
Respond to an Incident
CISA recommends users and administrators consult the Joint Advisory, Technical Approaches to Uncovering and Remediating Malicious Activity, which details technical approaches to uncovering malicious activity and includes mitigation steps according to best practices.
What is Rokrat malware?
In the past, the malware has been used in phishing campaigns that lure victims through emails containing attachments with a political theme -- such as Korean unification and North Korean human rights. RokRat is believed to be the handiwork of APT37, also known as ScarCruft, Reaper, and Group123.
What is a rokrat?
RokRat is a malware variant that will also attempt to maintain stealth by checking for sandboxes and for the presence of VMWare, scan for debugging software, and analyzes DLLs related to Microsoft and iDefense.
What is the tool used by North Korean hackers?
The tool, known as a remote access trojan, has been used by North Korean hackers in previous cyberattacks on Turkish banks and other victims, stealing passwords and other data.
Who was the first to expose the North Korean hacking?
However, security researchers at ClearSky, the international cybersecurity firm that first exposed the attack, said the North Korean hackers penetrated the computer systems and were likely to have stolen a large amount of classified data. Israeli officials fear the data could be shared with North Korea’s ally, Iran.
Why is North Korea using digital means?
accused North Korea of increasingly using digital means to evade sanctions and generate income for its nuclear weapons program.
Which country blamed Iran for the attack?
Israel, which blamed Iran, retaliated two weeks later with a cyberattack on an Iranian port that knocked its computers offline and created miles-long shipping traffic around Iran’s Shahid Rajaee port facility in early May.
Did North Korea make it further into the Israeli networks than officials let on?
The successful installation was a red flag, researchers said, that North Korea made it further into the Israeli networks than officials let on.
Is Israel using North Korea's stolen data?
Reed Saxon/Associated Press. An Israeli security official said there was concern that the stolen data would be used not only by North Korea, but by Iran. Israel has been fighting an escalating cyberconflict with Iran in recent months. Israel said it foiled a cyberattack on its water infrastructure in April that officials said was aimed ...
Who is the trojan attributed to?
The trojan was attributed by the two agencies to the North Korean government-sponsored hacking group tracked as HIDDEN COBRA (aka Lazarus Group and APT38).
What is RAT malware?
U.S. government agencies today published a malware analysis report exposing information on a remote access trojan (RAT) malware used by North Korean hackers in attacks targeting government contractors. The malware was identified by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) ...
How much is the reward for DPRK hacking?
In April 2020, the U.S. government offered a reward of up to $5 million for information on DPRK hackers' cyber activity, including past or ongoing operations, that leads to the disruption of DPRK-related illegal activities or to the identification or location of North Korean actors.
What malware was used in May?
Three more North Korean malware variants were exposed in May, including a remote access tool known as COPPERHEDGE and used in attacks against cryptocurrency exchanges, and two trojans known as TAINTEDSCRIBE and PEBBLEDASH.
