Japan Police Warn of Cyberattacks by Infamous Lazarus Hackers

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2022/10/16/national/japan-police-warn-cyberattacks-north-koreas-infamous-lazarus-hackers/

Japanese police and other authorities have warned that a North Korean hacker group known as Lazarus is highly likely targeting Japanese crypto asset-related operators in its cyberattacks.

The National Police Agency, the Financial Services Agency and the National Center of Incident Readiness and Strategy for Cybersecurity issued the warning in a document released Saturday.

According to the document, the North Korean hacker group uses such tactics as sending emails to employees of a crypto asset company while pretending to be an executive of the company, and approaching them through social media, with the aim of gaining access to the company’s network and stealing crypto assets.

To avoid falling victim to such an attack, authorities have called for keeping secret keys to confidential data separate from the internet and thinking twice before opening files attached to emails.

The North Korean group is believed to have been involved in the 2017 WannaCry ransomware attack. In April this year, the U.S. FBI pointed to the group’s involvement in a case where crypto assets worth about ¥78 billion were stolen.