Assessed Cyber Structure and Alignments of North Korea in 2023

2023-10-10 • Mandiant •

https://www.mandiant.com/resources/blog/north-korea-cyber-structure-alignment-2023

Thumbnail for Assessed Cyber Structure and Alignments of North Korea in 2023

Mandiant assesses that North Korea's cyber program has shifted toward a more flexible structure where DPRK-aligned groups share tooling, targeting, and personnel across espionage and financial operations. The report links this change to post-2020 pressures, including operators cut off during COVID-19 border restrictions and signs of self-funding through Andariel ransomware activity such as MAUI and HolyGh0st and APT43 cryptocurrency theft. It also describes task-force-like campaigns that combined APT43, TEMP.Hermit, and possibly Andariel activity around COVID-19 targeting. Mandiant warns that overlapping indicators now make DPRK attribution harder while allowing operators to move between blockchain, fintech, conventional weapons, nuclear, and intelligence collection priorities.

Indicators of Compromise

Type Value First Seen Last Seen
HASH 1b88b939e5ec186b2d19aec8f17792d… 2023-02-15 2024-12-13
HASH eff3e37d0406c818e3430068d90e7ed… 2017-11-14 2023-10-13
HASH a605570555620cea6d6be211520525f… 2023-10-10 2023-10-10

Related Actors

Related Reports

« Back