US indicts North Korean agent for WannaCry, Sony attacks [Updated]

Actor Randall Park playing Kim Jong-Un in the Sony Pictures movie The Interview-a movie hackers didn't leak. (credit: Sony Pictures Entertainment)

The Justice Department has announced the indictment of a North Korean agent for both the theft of data and "wiper" attack on Sony Pictures in 2014 and the worldwide "WannaCry" malware attack of May, 2017. The indictment, initially reported by ABC News and the Washington Post, is the first direct set of charges against an individual associated with the North Korean government.

The individual, identified as Park Jin Hyok, participated in the Sony Pictures attack under orders from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's clandestine military intelligence agency, the Reconnaissance General Bureau, the indictment alleges. The RGB is the agency that oversees "Unit 121" and "Lab 110", North Korea's cyber warfare units. Park is charged with conspiracy and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

According to the indictment, Park, a North Korean computer programmer, worked for Chosun Expo Joint Venture, an alleged North Korean government front company with offices in North Korea and China, since at least 2002. Also known as Korea Expo Joint Venture, Chosun Expo is believed to be connected to the RGB's Lab 110; while it provides legitimate programming-for-hire services to foreign customers, the company also is alleged to be home to the Lazarus Group. That's the malware and hacking group that has been previously connected by US intelligence and private sector security researchers to the Sony attack, the theft of $81 million from Bangladesh Bank through the SWIFT system (part of an attempted $1 billion theft), and the WannaCry malware.

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