US State Department offers $10 million reward for location or identity of North Korean hacker

A U.S. grand jury indicted North Korean citizen Rim Jong Hyok, charging him with conspiracy to hack into and extort hospitals, launder money, and use ransom funds to conduct computer intrusions against defense, technology, and government entities around the world, with the U.S. State Department offering a $10 million reward for information leading to the location or identity of the North Korean hacker. North Korean hackers developed custom tools to target and extort U.S. healthcare providers and used their ill-gotten gains to fund hacking attacks on government, technology, and defense entities around the world, while laundering the proceeds through China, said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. According to court documents, Rim and his co-conspirators worked for the Reconnaissance General Bureau, a North Korean military intelligence agency, and are known in the private sector as “Andariel,” “Onyx Sleet,” and “APT45.” (DL News)