North Korean hackers have launched a global cyber espionage campaign aimed at stealing classified military secrets to bolster Pyongyang’s prohibited nuclear weapons program. This alarming information was disclosed in a joint statement issued by the United States, the United Kingdom, and South Korea.
Known as “Andariel” or “APT45” in cybersecurity circles, these hackers have accessed or breached systems across a diverse array of sectors, including defense, aerospace, nuclear, and engineering. They have targeted not only military suppliers—such as manufacturers of tanks, submarines, warships, combat aircraft, and missile systems—but also healthcare and energy providers. Some victims have even suffered ransomware attacks.
Andariel is believed to operate as a division of North Korea’s intelligence agency, with the mission of advancing the regime’s military and nuclear ambitions. The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) indicated that the group and its techniques represent a continuous threat to various industries globally, including those in the U.S., the U.K., Japan, and India.
Several organizations, including the FBI and the National Security Agency (NSA) of the United States, along with the NCSC and South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS), have endorsed the joint statement. Paul Chichester from the NCSC emphasized the extent to which North Korean state-sponsored actors are willing to go to further their military objectives, highlighting the ongoing threat to critical infrastructure.
North Korea, officially known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, has a well-documented history of deploying covert hacking teams to acquire sensitive military information. This serves as a reminder to critical infrastructure operators about the importance of safeguarding sensitive data and intellectual property within their systems to prevent theft and misuse.
In August of the previous year, Reuters reported that an elite group of North Korean hackers had infiltrated the systems of NPO Mashinostroyeniya, a rocket design office in Reutov near Moscow. Similar to prior incidents, APT45 utilized typical phishing techniques and cyber exploits to mislead high-ranking officials into granting access to their internal systems.
The FBI noted that Andariel continues to pose a significant risk to various industrial sectors worldwide. They have urged companies in defense, aerospace, nuclear, and engineering to remain vigilant against North Korean state-sponsored cyber operations.
The FBI also revealed that Andariel has sought to acquire information regarding specifications and design drawings related to uranium processing and enrichment, as well as missile technology and missile defense systems.
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