CSIS entry 760 · January 2019
The U.S. Department of Justice announced an operation to disrupt a North Korean botnet that had been used to target companies in the media, aerospace, financial, and critical infrastructure sectors.
Justice Department Announces Court-Authorized Efforts to Map and Disrupt Botnet Used by North Korean Hackers · 2019-01-30 (press release date)
The Justice Department today announced an extensive effort to map and further disrupt, through victim notifications, the Joanap botnet – a global network of numerous infected computers under the control of North Korean hackers that was used to facilitate other malicious cyber activities. This effort targeting the Joanap botnet follows charges unsealed last year in which the United States charged a North Korean citizen, Park Jin Hyok, a member of a conspiracy backed by the North Korean government that carried out numerous computer intrusions. Those charges alleged that the conspiracy utilized a strain of malware, “Brambul,” which was also used to propagate the Joanap botnet.