Cyber-warfare could become the hermit dictatorship’s new weapon of mass destruction as they threaten the US.The US Department of Homeland Security said Kim Jong-un’s regime has already targeted the aerospace industry, financial services and critical infrastructure in the US and globally. A statement from DHS and the FBI said: “The North Korean government malicious cyber activity noted in these alerts is part of a long-term campaign of cyber-enabled operations that impact the U.S. Government and its citizens.
“Working closely with our interagency, industry and international partners, DHS is constantly working to arm network defenders with the tools they need to identify, detect and disrupt state and non-state actors targeting the networks and systems of our country and our allies.”
US security forces have vowed to work with their allies around the world to block Kim’s attacksas World War 3 fears mount.
The release says North Korea could be using a malware known as DeltaCharlie to organise its hacking.
The full hacking operation has been given the code name “Hidden Cobra”.
The current hacking offensive is the latest in a long history of North Korean cyber-attacksagainst the US and its allies.
Air raid siren ring out across North Korea's capital city
North Korean hackers tried to steal $1 billion from the New York Federal Reserve in 2016, and were only stopped by a spelling error.
They were digitally looting an account when bankers twigged something was wrong with a withdrawal request that misspelled the word foundation as “fandation”.
The secretive authoritarian nation still got away with $81 million in the cyber heist and could make a tidy profit looting global financial industries in the same way.
In May, North Korea was said to be behind the WannaCry cyber attack on the NHS - though it has since denied this.
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It has also targeted South Korea’s financial and media sectors in the past.
While in 2016, it hacked its neighbour’s defence data centre, stealing top secret files including US-South Korean war operations blueprints.
North Korea watchdog 38 North's Adam Meyers said: “North Korea’s disregard for the consequences of its actions sets them apart from other nation state, and is particularly dangerous.”
He said North Korea’s isolation gives it an “effective shield from which to launch offensive cyber operations against a connected and delicate global system”.
According to 38 North, recent activity in North Korea has also suggested an interest in getting cryptocurrency, such as bitcoin, through extortion.
Kim Jong-un could be attracted by bitcoin because of the lack of regulation and as a result, the ability to avoid international sanctions.
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