South Korean law enforcement authorities recently announced the arrest of an active military captain and a cryptocurrency exchange operator on charges of spying for a North Korean hacker. In exchange for acts of espionage, two South Korean nationals were allegedly paid bitcoins totaling $637,789.
South Korea’s Unified Command and Control was attacked
Two South Korean citizens, a businessman running a crypto-asset management firm and a serving national army captain, were arrested on suspicion of passing military secrets to a North Korean hacker. In exchange for handing over classified information, they allegedly received $600,000 and $37,789 worth of bitcoin, respectively.
The AFP report , South Korean law enforcement said the arrest was the first time a civilian and an active military captain had been caught spying for North Korea. As for the captain, whose name has not been released, authorities said that he had passed information used to enter South Korea’s Joint Command and Control System to an alleged North Korean spy.
The operator of the cryptocurrency exchange, on the other hand, is accused of passing a spy device to a military captain. The operator did so at the behest of a North Korean spy, the report said. In addition to the wristwatch-like spy device, the businessman also purchased and assembled a USB-like hacking device. This device was used to access South Korea’s Joint Control System. The control system.
Violation of the National Security Law
After the arrest, an employee of the Korean National Police Agency confirmed in a report:
The two men were arrested on charges of violating the National Security Law.
Reacting to the arrests, the Korean Prosecutor’s Office warned that it would “respond to security criminals in accordance with laws and principles.”
Allegations that a North Korean hacker was recruiting South Korean citizens to spy for Pyongyang come just weeks after the FBI accused North Korean-linked hackers of being behind the Ronin Bridge hacking incident. As Bitcoin.com News previously reported, North Korean cybercriminals behind the incident allegedly stole more than $600 million.
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