‘Unprecedented’ N. Korean attack used malware that could do further harm

Bill Gertz, Washington Free Beacon

The federal government issued a warning Friday about additional cyber attacks using the malicious software from the Sony Pictures cyber attack. The U.S. Computer Emergency Response Team (US-CERT) said the targeted destructive malware affecting Microsoft Windows systems could be used in additional attacks. …

Kim Jong-Un
Kim Jong-Un

The FBI said in a statement Friday that the Sony attack was carried out by “the North Korean government.” … The malware also is similar to March 2013 cyber attacks against South Korean banks and news media outlets by the North Koreans.

“We are deeply concerned about the destructive nature of this attack on a private sector entity and the ordinary citizens who worked there,” the FBI said, noting it is “one of the gravest national security dangers to the United States.” …

Cyber security expert Dmitri Alperovitch said the North Korean cyber attack was unrivaled in its impact. This is unprecedented,” said Alperovitch, founder and chief technology officer of CrowdStrike. “A thuggish dictator of brutal country has managed to suppress free speech and expression here in the United States.”

According to the US-CERT, the sophisticated software worm burrows into networks using several components. They include what the emergency notice describes a “listening implant” that helps gain initial remote access to a target network, and a “lightweight backdoor” used to break through firewalls and exploit universal plug and play mechanisms in a hunt for routers and gateways, while adding network port features that allow for easy access to protected networks.

SEE COMPLETE TEXT

Please follow and like us:

You must be logged in to post a comment Login