Pentagon, FBI Release Report on New Malware Attributed to North Korean Hackers

The new trend of public disclosures by government agencies about cybersecurity threats has led to the latest report about North Korea’s newly developed malware used to spy and steal data.

• By Haley Samsel
• Feb 19, 2020

Several government agencies, including the FBI, has made the unusual move of publicly identifying at least seven different malware types associated with North Korean hackers.

The Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security issued a public disclosure late last week, elaborating on a malicious actor referred to as “Hidden Cobra.” The hacker or hacking collective, associated with the North Korean government, uses malware to steal data, delete files and capture screenshots while someone is using the computer, according to CyberScoop.

This is the first time that the Pentagon’s Cyber Command is identifying North Korean hacking efforts “by name,” CyberScoop reported. Private companies were provided with copies of the report in advance of its public release.

Government agencies have given the malware some creative names, including Buffetline, Hotcroissant, Crowdedflounder and Bistromath. Some of the malware identified by investigators may be associated with previous North Korean attacks on India.

While it’s not shocking to any close watcher of cybersecurity attacks that North Korea is developing more advanced tools to conduct cyber warfare, the new public disclosures by the federal government are a fairly recent development. As ArsTechnica points out, government officials used to refrain from pointing fingers at any specific country for carrying out cyber attacks.

The strategy began to shift after North Korea’s hack of Sony Pictures, which investigators were quick to publicize was likely the work of North Korean agents. The Treasury Department has also publicly sanctioned North Korean hacking groups in 2019, and justice officials have been more outspoken about the threats posed by countries with advanced cyber operations, including Russia, Iran, and, of course, North Korea.

The National Security Agency, known for its secrecy and weaponizing of cybersecurity flaws to spy, surprised many cybersecurity experts in January when the agency alerted Microsoft of a catastrophic flaw in its operating system. Rather than taking advantage of the issue to spy on other countries, the NSA reported it and allowed the company to fix it.

Whether these decisions to publicly disclose cybersecurity threats is permanent, or part of a new approach to cybersecurity policy, is yet to be seen. In explaining the most recent announcement, a Cyber Command spokesperson told CyberScoop that the FBI was behind the attribution of the seven malware samples to North Korea. That was the reasoning behind the most recent disclosure, the spokesperson said.

“Associating the FBI’s attribution of malware to a nation-state is situation-dependent, based on timing,” the spokesperson said.