North Korea unleashes ‘Reaper’ spy unit to raise funds for deadly nuke programme
The group, codenamed ‘Reaper’, has been labelled the “overlooked North Korean actor” by top cybersecurity firm FireEye.
It has been linked to a series of high-profile attacks on financial institutions, government agencies and military facilities across the world.
And analysts warn it is now expanding its operations and breaking into the systems of major companies which could cause chaos to the target country’s economy.
A new report published by FireEye warns Reaper has access to a fearsome toolkit and “should be taken seriously” because of its formidable capabilities and the heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
Their hacking tools include wiper malware, which can be used to steal vast amounts of data before deleting it, and highly effective zero-day exploits, new vulnerabilities in software which are completely unknown to security experts.
The research comes amid reports dictator Kim is scrambling for new ways to replenish his depleted finances after a series of costly nuclear and long-range missile tests.
A number of major hacks on South Korean cryptocurrency exchanges have already been traced back to the North, and experts have also attributed a series of ransomware attacks to Kim Jong-un's regime.
And analysts say such attacks are likely to escalate as the communist state becomes increasingly desperate for money.
Chinese sources with connections to North Korea’s ruling elite told Radio Free Asia a secret fund used by the rogue state was running dry.
Hundreds of millions of dollars every year is funneled back to the hermit kingdom through a shadowy agency known as Room 39.
The source said: “Due to Kim Jong Un’s extravagant spending, the slush fund from his father, Kim Jong-il, is running out.
“I heard them worrying about insufficient funds in Office No. 39 a number of times.
(html comment removed: Start of Brightcove iframe Player )“We can speculate that he spent a lot of money from the number of missile and nuclear weapons tests he carried out.
“Most of the funding for nuclear weapon and missile development is coming from Kim Jong Un’s slush fund.”
The source said the regime was desperate to replenish the slush fund to pay for further weapons tests.
But they added international sanctions targeting North Korea’s biggest earners had made it much harder to raise money.
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