The attacks on banks match attacks on South Korean networks and therefore the 2014 Sony hack.
Network security researchers have joined cyber attacks that scarf immeasurable bucks from Asian banks to hacking incidents attributed to D.P.R.K., raising queries on whether or not the cash-strapped hermit kingdom is seeking new ways that to fill its coffers.
Hackers United Nations agency scarf $81 million from Bangladesh's financial organisation in February are joined with recent attacks on many alternative banks in Asia, together with a trial to steal over $1 million from the Tien Phong Bank in Vietnam, in keeping with Symantec.
the safety analysis firm wrote in a very journal post that the hackers use a rare malware code that resembles attacks on South Korean businesses and therefore the U.S.-based networks of Sony photos in 2014.
This links the recent hacks to the Lazarus cluster, that is believed to be sponsored by North Korea's government. The law enforcement agency has blame D.P.R.K. for the hack against Sony photos and in 2014 warned the attack may well be the beginning of a bigger campaign against businesses. "Lazarus has been joined to a string of aggressive attacks since 2009, mostly targeted on targets within the U.S. and Asian country," Symantec aforementioned.
The banks that were targeted used payment networks pass the Society for Worldwide Interbank monetary Telecommunication, or SWIFT, that has warned monetary teams to be ready for similar attacks.
If D.P.R.K. is concerned, it'd be the primary time a nation-state used hackers to steal cash from another country, says Justin medico, chief security officer Fidelis Cybersecurity.
"If this becomes forensically attributed back to D.P.R.K., i might suspect that the international banking community and/or the us can have to be compelled to take action from this threat," medico says.
President Barack Obama has wanted new suggests that to counter the increasing threat of hackers and has already exaggerated sanctions against D.P.R.K. when the attack on Sony photos. The sanctions have worsened what's already a precarious economic state of affairs within the country, wherever economic condition and food shortages square measure widespread.
James Lewis, a cybersecurity investigator at the middle for Strategic and International Studies, says D.P.R.K. is making the most of Russian technology that's creating its thanks to the country through Iran.
"These countries do not play by identical rules as we tend to do, therefore there's a detailed connect between criminal teams and therefore the state," Lewis says. "In D.P.R.K., the criminal teams square measure the state."
