North Korean hacker indicted for allegedly extorting U.S. hospitals; agencies issue cyberthreat advisory

The Department of Justice July 25 announced the indictment of North Korean national Rim Jong Hyok for allegedly conspiring to hack and extort U.S. hospitals and health care providers. The department said the proceeds were to be laundered and used to fund additional hackings into defense, technology and government entities globally. Rim and his co-conspirators worked for North Korea's Reconnaissance General Bureau in a cyber group known as "Andariel," "Onyx Sleet" and "APT45," the department said. The FBI and other agencies yesterday issued a joint advisory on the cyber group, saying they primarily target defense, aerospace, nuclear and engineering entities, and fund their espionage activity through ransomware operations against U.S. health care entities.

"Beginning in 2021, the rapid cooperation of ransomware victim hospitals with the FBI contributed to the early identification of this group, its affiliation with the North Korean government and subsequent seizure of ransomware proceeds," said John Riggi, AHA national advisor for cybersecurity and risk. "This current enforcement action demonstrates how these nation state-sponsored actors used health care ransomware proceeds to directly fund attacks that jeopardized the national security of the United States - further reason not to pay ransom. We congratulate the FBI and the DOJ for their support of the health care sector and ongoing efforts to stem the scourge of ransomware attacks that threaten patient safety and our nation."

For more information on this or other cyber and risk issues, contact Riggi at [email protected]. For the latest cyber and risk resources and threat intelligence, visit aha.org/cybersecurity.