Bluenoroff is Kaspersky's name for a financially motivated unit within the broader Lazarus formation. Kaspersky introduced the designation publicly in 2017 while documenting bank intrusions connected to the 2016 Bangladesh Central Bank theft and other attacks on financial institutions and SWIFT-connected systems. The group used watering holes, backdoors, compromised infrastructure, and malware tailored to banking environments, with activity spanning multiple countries. By 2022, Kaspersky described a shift from banks and SWIFT servers toward cryptocurrency businesses as the group's principal source of illicit income. Operators created convincing cryptocurrency software companies and applications, delivered backdoored updates, and used malicious documents and social engineering to abuse trust. The reporting portrays Bluenoroff as able to draw on the larger formation's malware, exploits, and infrastructure while maintaining a distinct financial objective.
Vietnam Financial Institute
#VietnamFI • 2018-07
🇻🇳 Viet Nam
UN Panel evidence lists Vietnam among suspected DPRK cyber attacks on financial institutions and records an attempted theft of more than EUR 1 million through fraudulent SWIFT messages reported by Tien Phong Bank. The case is part of the same bank-theft pattern the Panel treated as DPRK cyber activity used to evade sanctions and generate revenue.
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First seen: 2017-04 •
Last seen: 2026-07