The U.S. has imposed sanctions on a North Korean hacker accused of being responsible for the infamous WannaCry attack and for hacking Sony Corp in 2014.
His name is Park Jin Kyok and he is a member of the Lazarus Team, a hacking group. Park has also been involved in a breach of the Central Bank of Bangladesh in 2016.
The U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Jin Hyok and Chosun Expo, the company he works for.
In 2014, US officials said a North Korean user was responsible for the attacks launched at Sony, resulting in the loss of data and internal documents.
The attack was carried out by Park after letters were sent to Sony, asking it to stop the release of the film "The Interview," which according to North Korean officials, portrayed their leader, Kim Jong Un as the villain.
According to the complaint, Park exploited several social media personalities to send malicious links to people involved in the film's production. The links contained malware controlled by North Korea.
In 2016, the Wannacry ransomware made headlines, affecting thousands of corporate offices around the world. The ransomware encrypted files on computers and denied access until the affected user deposited money into the attacker’s account. It also led to the cancellation of thousands of medical appointments, as Britain’s National Health Service was also affected by the ransomware.
This is the first time that US law enforcement has formally charged a North Korean hacker involved in cyberattacks.
