A North Korean spy has been charged with computer fraud and wire fraud as part of his involvement in multiple U.S. cyberattacks, including the hacking of Sony Pictures Entertainment, the Justice Department said.
According to a criminal complaint unsealed Thursday, Park Jin-hyok was involved with a North Korean government-sponsored hacking team and worked for a government front company to assist North Korea’s cyberattacks, including the WannaCry 2.0 global ransomware attack in 2017, the theft of $81 million from Bangladesh Bank in 2016, and the Sony Pictures Entertainment hack in 2014.
“The North Korean government, through a state-sponsored group, robbed a central bank and citizens of other nations, retaliated against free speech in order to chill it half a world away, and created disruptive malware that indiscriminately affected victims in more than 150 other countries, causing hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars’ worth of damage,” John Demers, the head of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, said in a statement.
“These charges will send a message that we will track down malicious actors no matter how or where they hide,” Demers added.
The ranking member of the Senate Intelligence Committee echoed similar sentiments, noting that it would sent a clear signal to “adversaries” that the actions were “unacceptable.”
“This indictment is the result of years of hard work by the FBI and the Department of Justice, and it is an important step in making clear to our adversaries that these kinds of criminal activities are unacceptable,” Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., said in a statement Thursday. “It also points to the need for a clearly thought-out and articulated strategy for deterring and punishing state-sponsored cyberattacks.”
The Sony Pictures hack was conducted in response to Sony’s film “The Interview,” a comedy that chronicles an assassination plot against North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, and erased data on approximately half of Sony’s personal computers and servers.
Then-President Barack Obama imposed sanctions against North Korean government entities and people following the cyberattack, barring them from completing transaction in the U.S. financial system and preventing them from engaging in business with Americans.
Park has also been slapped with sanctions that will prevent any bank or financial institution that conducts business with the U.S. to also engage in business with Park.
Additionally, the U.S. acknowledged in December that North Korea was responsible for the 2017 WannaCry cyberattacks, which affected more than 230,000 computers in over 150 countries. North Korea has rejected the notion it was behind the attack.
The Justice Department’s announcement comes after President Trump praised Kim early Thursday morning, months after the two met in Singapore in an attempt to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula.
“Kim Jong Un of North Korea proclaims ‘unwavering faith in President Trump.’ Thank you to Chairman Kim. We will get it done together!” Trump tweeted Thursday morning.
It is uncertain if Trump was aware of the charges against Park when he posted the tweet, according to the New York Times.
