Publish date21 Feb 2018 - 11:01
Story Code : 313401

US security firm warns of N Korea’s elite hacking group

Leading US security firm has warned of capabilities of an elite hacking group in North Korea to challenge the United States in a cyber war.
US security firm warns of N Korea’s elite hacking group
The elite hacking group called Reaper, which is also known as ACT37, has reached the level of “advanced persistent threat,” according to a Tuesday report by American cybersecurity company FireEye.

“APT37 has expanded its operations in both scope and sophistication,” the company warned.

It further claimed that the group has been active “since at least 2012 and focuses on targeting the public and private sectors primarily in South Korea.”
 

FireEye's director of intelligence analysis, John Hultquist, told Wired, that the group is “the next team to watch.”

“This operator has continued to operate in a cloud of obscurity, mostly because they’ve stayed regional. But they’re showing all the signs of a maturing asset that’s commanded by the North Korean regime and can be turned to any purpose it wants,” Hultquist claimed. "They're making moves outside of South Korea, which is very disconcerting, given their level of aggression."

The report was released amid growing tensions between the US and North Korea as well as a war of words between the two countries’ leaders, Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un.

Meanwhile, Fox News, the US president's favorite news channel, published a report on its website, predicting a war between the two nuclear powers “by April.”

“Know this: come springtime, the United States and North Korea could very well find itself at war as tensions are set to spike once more", Fox News reported.

This is while efforts have recently been underway for a diplomatic solution on the Korean Peninsula, in part through the Winter Olympics held in South Korea.

There are also concerns that Washington may launch a preemptive nuclear strike against the resolute nation, a move described as “extremely foolish,” by Keith Preston, the director of attackthesystem.com.

“The North Koreans may have nuclear capabilities but the real question is to what degree do they have incentives to actually use any weapons of mass destruction,” he told Press TV in an interview on Tuesday, arguing it would be “their last resort.”

He further asserted that Pyongyang is using its nuclear power merely as a “bargaining chip,” predicting that North Korea’s use of such weapons is “a bit far-fetched.”

Tensions heightened between the two countries after Trump warned to “totally destroy” North Korea during a speech to the latest UN General Assembly.

Even the Trump administration, the Virginia-based analyst noted, would probably “prefer to avoid direct military confrontation with North Korea because the consequences for the United States would be significant.”

KD

 
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