When a U.S.-based foreign affairs analyst received an email in October from the director of the 38 North think-tank commissioning an article, it seemed to be business as usual. It wasn’t. | Reuters
“I realized it wasn’t legit once I contacted the person with follow up questions and found out there was, in fact, no request that was made, and that this person was also a target,” DePetris told Reuters, referring to Town. “So I figured out pretty quickly this was a widespread campaign.”
“The attackers are having a ton of success with this very, very simple method,” said James Elliott of the Microsoft Threat Intelligence Center , who added that the new tactic first emerged in January. “The attackers have completely changed the process.” “The attackers are getting the information directly from the horse’s mouth, if you will, and they don’t have to sit there and make interpretations because they’re getting it directly from the expert,” Elliot said.North Korean hackers are well-known for attacks netting millions of dollars, targeting Sony Pictures over a film seen as insulting to its leader, and stealing data from pharmaceutical and defense companies, foreign governments, and others.
This tactic can be quicker than hacking someone’s account and wading through their emails, bypasses traditional technical security programs that would scan and flag a message with malicious elements, and allows the spies direct access to the experts’ thinking, Elliot said. DePetris, a fellow with Defense Priorities and a columnist for several newspapers, said the emails he has received were written as if a researcher were asking for a paper submission or comments on a draft.
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