The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has announced that North Korean hackers are using email vulnerabilities in cyber attacks to gather sensitive intelligence, and the American public is being urged to be extra cautious.
The FBI statement stated that members of the “Kimsuky” group, which consists of North Korean hackers, sent phishing e-mails to think tanks, academic institutions and media houses in the United States of America (USA).
Phishing is a type of cyber attack, i.e. fraud, by means of which attackers want to obtain confidential data or induce people to do something that will harm them (loss of data, financial damage or reputational damage).
According to the FBI, the North Korean hackers posed as journalists or academic workers in the e-mails they sent, and that they hid their identities.
The statement warns that North Korea uses these phishing e-mails to gather intelligence on geopolitical activities, foreign policy strategies of enemy countries and other information that is important to the interests of official Pyongyang, AA writes.