Andariel Hacking Group Shifts Focus to Financial Attacks on U.S. Organizations
Oct 02, 2024
Cyber Threat / Malware
Three different organizations in the U.S. were targeted in August 2024 by a North Korean state-sponsored threat actor called Andariel as part of a likely financially motivated attack. "While the attackers didn't succeed in deploying ransomware on the networks of any of the organizations affected, it is likely that the attacks were financially motivated," Symantec, part of Broadcom, said in a report shared with The Hacker News. Andariel is a threat actor that's assessed to be a sub-cluster within the infamous Lazarus Group. It's also tracked as APT45, DarkSeoul, Nickel Hyatt, Onyx Sleet (formerly Plutonium), Operation Troy, Silent Chollima, and Stonefly. It's been active since at least 2009. An element within North Korea's Reconnaissance General Bureau (RGB), the hacking crew has a track record of deploying ransomware strains such as SHATTEREDGLASS and Maui , while also developing an arsenal of custom backdoors like Dtrack (aka Valefor and Preft),