Authorities Seize 17 North Korean Hacker Websites Used for Scamming

The U.S. Government just took down 17 hackers’ websites from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). These hackers were using these sites to cheat businesses in the U.S. and abroad.

It’s great to see that action is being taken to protect companies from these kinds of cyber threats.

“The seizures announced today protect U.S. companies from being infiltrated with North Korean computer code and help ensure that American businesses are not used to finance that regime’s weapons program,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew GOlsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. 

Already, the U.S. sealed DPRK in October 2022, and in January 2023, court-authorized $1.5 million in money that the same group of IT workers got from people who didn’t know about their scheme.

Websites Seized

This was because of partnerships between the government and private companies that shared information, which blocked the IT workers’ access to the online freelance work and payment service providers they liked best.

The Government warns employers about hiring and allowing access to It systems.

By seizing these fraudulent domains, businesses are prevented from inadvertently employing these malicious individuals, which could damage the company.

The FBI advises employers to implement supplementary proactive measures concerning remote IT personnel to increase malicious actors’ difficulty concealing their identities. 

Companies risk financial losses or having their systems compromised by insider threats that they accidentally allow into their systems if they fail to conduct adequate due diligence.

The DPRK Government sent trained It workers to mainly China and Russia to defraud their nations. 

This scheme involves the use of pseudonymous email, social media, payment platforms, and online job site accounts, as well as false websites and proxy computers located in the United States.

As a result of this incident, the Government should take proper investigations and improve their fraud detection mechanisms.

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