"US Sanctions North Korean University for Training Hackers"

The US Department of the Treasury recently announced sanctions against four entities and one individual for engaging in malicious cyber activities on behalf of the North Korean government.  The US Department of the Treasury stated that North Korean threat actors, such as the infamous Lazarus group, launch malicious campaigns targeting organizations and individuals worldwide to generate illicit revenue to support the Pyongyang regime and its priorities.  According to the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), North Korean threat actors are trained at the Pyongyang University of Automation, with many of them landing jobs within units of the Reconnaissance General Bureau (RGB), the country’s primary intelligence bureau.  RGB, which was designated by OFAC in 2015 as being subordinated to the North Korean government, also controls the Technical Reconnaissance Bureau and its cyber unit, the 110th Research Center.  The US says that the 110th Research Center is responsible for numerous cyberattacks, including the devastating DarkSeoul campaign, and for the theft of sensitive government information from South Korea related to military defense and response planning.  The US announced that Pyongyang University of Automation, the Technical Reconnaissance Bureau, and the 110th Research Center are being designated pursuant to EO 13687 for being agencies, instrumentalities, or controlled entities of the Government of North Korea or the Workers’ Party of Korea.

SecurityWeek reports: "US Sanctions North Korean University for Training Hackers"