U.S. Sanctions North Korean IT Workers Over ‘Cyber Espionage,’ Crypto Thefts
The U.S. Treasury Department’s sanctions watchdog added North Korean national Song Kum Hyok to its “Specially Designated Nationals” list, alleging he is “a malicious cyber actor” tied to a North Korean hacking group.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control moved to block Song from the global financial system on Tuesday, arguing he worked to place other North Korean officials in various companies as IT workers. These IT workers would then send funds back to North Korea and, in some cases, find ways of exploiting the companies they worked for to generate additional revenue.
The crypto industry has been hard-hit by these types of schemes, with numerous major thefts taking place as a result of efforts by North Korean hackers.
“The DPRK…
