North Korea-tied hackers executed $620 million crypto heist: FBI

WASHINGTON — North Korean-tied hackers were responsible for a $620-million cryptocurrency heist last month targeting players of the popular Axie Infinity game, US authorities said Friday. 

The hack was one of the biggest to hit the crypto world, raising huge questions about security in an industry that only recently burst into the mainstream thanks to celebrity promotions and promises of untold wealth.

Last month's theft from the makers of Axie Infinity, a game where players can earn crypto through game play or trading their avatars, came just weeks after thieves made off with around $320 million in a similar attack.

"Through our investigations we were able to confirm Lazarus Group and APT38, cyber actors associated with (North Korea), are responsible for the theft," the FBI said in a statement.

Lazarus Group gained notoriety in 2014 when it was accused of hacking into Sony Pictures Entertainment as revenge for "The Interview," a satirical film that mocked North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

North Korea's cyber-program dates back to at least the mid-1990s but has since grown to a 6,000-strong cyber warfare unit, known as Bureau 121, that operates from several countries including Belarus, China, India, Malaysia and Russia, according to a 2020 US military report.

North Korean hackers stole around $400-million worth of cryptocurrency through cyberattacks on digital currency outlets last year, blockchain data platform Chainalysis said in January. 

In the case of the Axie Infinity heist, attackers exploited weaknesses in the set-up put in place by the Vietnam-based firm behind the game, Sky Mavis.

The company had to solve a problem: the ethereum blockchain, where transactions in the ether cryptocurrency are logged, is relatively slow and expensive to use.

To allow Axie Infinity players to buy and sell at speed, the firm created an in-game currency and a sidechain with a bridge to the main ethereum blockchain.

The result was faster and cheaper -- but ultimately less secure.

The attack targeting its blockchain netted 173,600 ether and $25.5 million-worth of stablecoin, a digital asset pegged to the US dollar.

Agence France-Presse

North Korea's Kim reappears after weeks of speculation

North Korea's Kim Jong Un has made his first public appearance in nearly three weeks, state media reported Saturday, following intense speculation that the leader of the nuclear-armed nation was seriously ill or possibly dead.

State television showed Kim walking, smiling broadly and smoking a cigarette at what the North said was the opening of a fertiliser factory on Friday in Sunchon, north of Pyongyang.

Rumours about Kim's health have been swirling since his conspicuous no-show at April 15 celebrations for the birthday of his grandfather, the North's founder -- the most important day in the country's political calendar.

His absence triggered a series of fevered rumours and unconfirmed reports over his condition, while the United States and South Korea insisted they had no information to believe any of the conjecture was true.


Seoul's unification ministry reacted to Saturday's report by saying "groundless" speculation about Kim had caused "unnecessary confusion", calling for more careful consideration in future.

Kim's sudden death would have left Pyongyang facing an unplanned succession for the first time in its history and raised unanswered questions over who would succeed him and take over the North's nuclear arsenal.

China, the North's key diplomatic ally and main provider of trade and aid, is keen to maintain stability in its neighbour and avoid the possibility of an influx of refugees.

North Korea is "at the epicentre of an extremely tense security crisis", involving "a nuclear standoff where tens of millions of lives are at stake," Henri Feron, Senior Fellow at the US Center for International Policy, told AFP.

"This raises legitimate concerns about the domestic and international instability that his death could cause."

Footage showed Kim in his trademark black suit, waving to hundreds of workers who cheered his appearance and released balloons.

He was flanked by senior officials -- including his sister and close adviser Kim Yo Jong -- and showed no outward signs of ill health.

At one point Kim sat in front of a sign that described the event as a factory opening ceremony for May 1, 2020, but his appearance could not be independently verified.

As with previous public appearances during the global coronavirus pandemic, Kim and his entourage were not wearing masks, unlike the crowd of workers at the ceremony.

Analysts said Kim could not appear in public wearing a mask as it would make him appear vulnerable to the North Korean people.

The North has insisted that it has not seen a single case of coronavirus, although experts say that is unlikely.

Kim's repeated appearances without a mask had led some to speculate that he may have caught the virus.

Reporting from inside the isolated North is notoriously difficult, especially on matters relating to its highly secretive leadership.

- Rumours of ill health -

The North Korean leader had not made a public appearance since presiding over a Workers' Party politburo meeting on April 11, and the following day state media reported that he had inspected fighter jets.

Daily NK, an online media outlet run mostly by North Korean defectors, had reported that Kim was undergoing treatment after a cardiovascular procedure last month.

Citing an unidentified source inside the country, it said Kim -- who is in his mid-30s -- had needed urgent treatment due to heavy smoking, obesity and fatigue.

CNN then reported that Washington was "monitoring intelligence" that Kim was in "grave danger" after undergoing surgery, quoting an anonymous US official.

Officials in Seoul had consistently downplayed the reports and a presidential security advisor said that Kim was "alive and well" and staying in the eastern resort town of Wonsan.

US President Donald Trump suggested earlier this week that Washington believed Kim to be alive and declined to immediately comment on Kim's apparent re-emergence.

Trump and Kim have met three times, although talks on the North's nuclear capabilities have long been stalled with no sign of them resuming.

Analysts say Kim is likely to make another public appearance in the coming days that will be reported by state media.

But Pyongyang "probably won't explain Kim's recent absence given the secrecy around the leader's health and schedule," said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor of international studies at Ewha University in Seoul.

Previous absences from the public eye on Kim's part have also prompted speculation about his health.

Kim's father and predecessor had been dead for two days before anyone outside the innermost circles of North Korean leadership was aware.

In 2014, Kim Jong Un dropped out of sight for nearly six weeks before reappearing with a cane. Days later, the South's spy agency said he had undergone surgery to remove a cyst from his ankle.

Agence France-Presse

Joint Koreas hockey team ends historic Olympic run

GANGNEUNG, South Korea — They cheered. They cried. They hugged. They watched as fans by the thousands shouted, “We are one.” Unification flags for the two Koreas, longtime rivals and sometimes bitter enemies, flapped across the Olympic arena.

And now they go back home, quite possibly never to see each other again.

The Korean women’s hockey team, which included players from both North and South, ended its historic Olympic run on Tuesday with a fifth straight loss but a host of unforgettable feel-good sparks.

Team Korea was defeated by Sweden 6-1 in a seventh-place match in the Pyeongchang Games on Tuesday, a healthy crowd again on hand to cheer them on.

The team lost by a combined score of 28-2 in its games and was rarely competitive. Yet the repeated defeats were, for many, insignificant. Instead, this notion dominated discussion: the significance of the Koreas’ first-ever joint Olympic squad taking the ice smack in the middle of an abrupt, now ongoing reconciliation between the rival Koreas.

“They are an amazing group,” said the team’s Canadian coach, Sarah Murray, who wept while hugging some of her squad.

“I could have never imagined our players being this competitive in the Olympics,” Murray said after the game. “So when I was standing there I was just so proud of them, just watching them skate around and salute the fans.”

South Korean forward Kim Heewon wiped away tears as she and teammates waved to cheering fans during a standing ovation. Some spectators wept as Korean players — North and South — stood in a circle at the center of the rink and hit the ice with their sticks in a post-game ceremony before leaving the rink.

“It’s been a special opportunity to get to know those girls, and we’ll miss having them around,” said player Randi Heesoo Griffin of Cary, North Carolina, whose mother is South Korean.

The two governments bar their citizens from visiting each other’s country and exchanging phone calls, letters and emails. Griffin said she understood that when it came to staying in touch, “there’s some barriers to that, obviously.”

“I mean, none of them have Facebook, so might be hard,” Griffin said. “But there were definitely bonds that were formed. And I think if we end up playing against each other again, South Korea vs. North Korea, there’s definitely going to be some hugs and some smiles.”

The team was formed just days before the Pyeongchang Games began during an eleventh-hour push by the two Koreas to improve ties after a year of spiking nuclear tensions that triggered fears of a war on the Korean Peninsula.

The team’s makeup was a key part of agreements the Koreas struck to cooperate in the Olympics, which eventually provided a breather from a nuclear standoff involving the North, the South and the United States.

Despite initial worries about their teamwork, North and South Korean players were seen getting along with each other. There were many small moments of warm relations that seemed to improve as the games went on.

During Tuesday’s classification round game against Sweden, the Korean team played with newfound pace and more confidence against a team they were earlier routed by 8-0 in a preliminary-round match. On Sunday, they lost 2-0 to Switzerland, which beat them 8-0 in their landmark debut match. The Korean team lost 4-1 to Japan its final preliminary-round match.

The Koreas’ improving performances were likely because players gradually got over nervousness and pressures from the spotlight.

Every minor interaction between North and South Korean players was in the news because it was so extraordinary. They took selfies, visited a beach and created a dictionary to overcome the North-South dialect divide.

“We have really enjoyed working with the North’s players and coaches and we really do want to help them in the future,” Murray said. She said a possible “exchange game” has been discussed to maintain the connection.

“They want to get better, they want to keep learning from us and we want to help them,” she said. “And there are things that we can learn from them, too.”

The team’s formation raised hopes that Olympics-related warming gestures could transcend beyond sports and contribute to easing nuclear tensions.

But it is unclear if the good mood will last after the Olympics end, particularly since Seoul and Washington are set to kick off delayed springtime military drills that Pyongyang views as a rehearsal for invasion.

Joo Moon-sook, a 43-year-old who attended the game Tuesday with her husband and 12-year-old daughter, said the joint team’s Olympic appearance has helped soften South Koreans’ hawkish views on North Korean people after years of animosity.

“It’s an educational experience for children, letting them see for themselves that North Koreans aren’t scary and bad people, but part of who we are as a nation,” Joo said. “I can’t forget the first game — the moment they stepped onto the ice. I was choking with tears.”

For South Korean goalie Shin So Jung, the opportunity to experience such a moment from the inside — and appreciate it while it was happening — was unforgettable.

“Our win-loss record isn’t good, but I hope we brought them joy and heartfelt moments,” Shin said. “I don’t think I will experience anything like this again. So many people came here to see us and cheer for us. I hope their love for us lasts.”

source: sports.inquirer.net

Guam leader backs ‘punch in the nose’ for Pyongyang

HAGATNA, Guam — Guam’s leader said Monday that “sometimes a bully can only be stopped with a punch in the nose,” in a spirited defense of President Donald Trump’s rhetoric against North Korea which has the island in its crosshairs.

While Trump’s critics accuse him of inflaming tensions with Pyongyang, Guam Gov. Eddie Calvo said he was grateful the US leader was taking a strong stance against North Korean threats to his Pacific homeland.

“Everyone who grew up in the schoolyard in elementary school, we understand a bully,” Calvo told AFP. “[North Korean leader] Kim Jong-Un is a bully with some very strong weapons… a bully has to be countered very strongly.”

Calvo, a Republican, said Trump was being unfairly criticized over his handling of the North Korea crisis, which escalated when Pyongyang announced plans to launch missiles toward Guam in a “crucial warning”.

He said North Korea had threatened Guam – a US territory which hosts two large military bases and is home to more than 6,000 military personnel – at least three times since 2013.

Trump has responded by threatening “fire and fury,” warning last week that the US military was “locked and loaded” to respond to any aggression.

“President Trump is not your conventional elected leader, what he says and how he says it is a lot different from what was said by previous presidents,” Calvo said.

But he pointed out previous presidents had also used strong words to warn off Pyongyang, including Barack Obama who said last year that “we could, obviously, destroy North Korea with our arsenals.”

“One president (Obama) said it one way, cool and calmly with a period… the other said fire and fury with an exclamation point, but it still leads to the same message,” Calvo said.

He rejected suggestions that Trump and the North Korean dictator were as bad as each other when it came to the sabre-rattling playing out in the western Pacific.

“Well there’s only one guy that has vaporised into a red mist his uncle or a general because he fell asleep in a meeting with an anti-aircraft gun, that’s Kim Jong-Un,” he said. “There’s only one guy that’s killed his brother with one of the most toxic nerve agents ever created, that’s Kim Jong-Un.”

‘Safe place to visit’

Some regional players such as China have urged Trump to tone down his rhetoric, but Calvo called on them to do more to contain Pyongyang, saying “no one wants to see a war.”

“It’s not only in the interests of America and its allies, but also China and Russia to see this fellow does not continue in his effort towards nuclearization or longer-range missiles,” he said.

“You’re allowed to voice those opinions without going to prison, whether you’re for the military or against it, unlike North Korea,” he said.

He acknowledged there were “varying opinions” among Guam’s 160,000 residents about the huge US military presence on the island but insisted the majority of inhabitants backed it.

Calvo also dismissed criticism of the US-operated THAAD weapons system, which has been deployed in Guam and is capable of destroying intermediate-range missiles in the final phase of flight.

“It’s meant not to shoot people, it’s meant to shoot at missiles that kill people,” he said.

Calvo said he did not expect the crisis would have a major impact on the island’s tourism industry, which draws more than 1.5 million tourists a year.

“Guam’s a safe place to go to. Even though all this stuff is going on in the airwaves there has been no added threat level,” he said.

“I’m welcoming all the people of the world to come visit Guam, it’s a beautiful place.” /atm

source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

North Korea says ready to hit back if US attacks

UNITED NATIONS, United States — North Korea is preparing for “any mode of war” triggered by US military action, Pyongyang’s envoy to the United Nations warned Monday, saying his country would respond to a missile or nuclear strike “in kind.”

The statement from North Korea’s deputy ambassador to the United Nations, Kim In Ryong, followed warnings from US Vice President Mike Pence to Pyongyang not to test US resolve.

“If the United States dares opt for a military action (…) the DPRK is ready to react to any mode of war desired by the Americans,” Kim told a news conference at UN headquarters in New York.

“We will take the toughest counteraction against the provocateurs,” he said.

North Korea has taken “self-defensive” measures in response to US threats of military action and these reflect Pyongyang’s determination to “counter nukes and ICBM in kind,” Kim said, referring to intercontinental ballistic missiles.

Pence earlier told a news conference in South Korea that “the era of strategic patience is over” after North Korea on Sunday test-fired another missile and fears mounted that it may be preparing a sixth nuclear test.

Pyongyang is seeking to develop a long-range missile capable of hitting the US mainland with a nuclear warhead, and has so far staged five nuclear tests, two of them last year.

Kim also confirmed that a new nuclear test was under preparation, saying that the plans had been announced and that “it will take place.”

“As far as nuclear test is concerned, it was already announced to the public. It is something that our headquarters decided. At a time and at the place where our headquarters deem necessary, it will take place,” he said.

‘Got to behave’

US President Donald Trump’s decision at the weekend to send the Carl Vinson carrier-led navy strike group to the Korean peninsula shows that the “US reckless moves for invading the DPRK have reached a serious phase,” said Kim.

The North Korean deputy envoy asserted that Pyongyang would hold the United States “wholly accountable for the catastrophic consequences to be entailed by its outrageous actions.”

The envoy criticized the US missile strikes that hit an air base in Syria last week, saying Washington was resorting to a “gangster-like logic” that its military action was proportionate and could apply to the Korean peninsula as well.

Trump on Monday said his message to North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un was: “Got to behave.”

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric separately expressed concern over rising tensions on the Korean peninsula and said the latest missile test was “troubling”.

He urged North Korea to “take all the steps necessary to de-escalate the situation and return to dialogue on denuclearization.”

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will next week chair a special meeting of the UN Security Council on North Korea.  CBB

source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

Twitter suffers limited blackout

WASHINGTON, United States – Twitter on Sunday experienced a partial outage, the nature of which was not immediately clear, the company said.

“Something is technically wrong,” the microblogging service’s welcome page said. “Thanks for noticing—we’re going to fix it up and have things back to normal soon.”

Users reported problems on the Twitter application for Android and iPhone smartphones, while tweets on the computer application TweetDeck were showing up as having been posted a year ago.

Twitter claimed 284 million active users at the end of September.

Sony earlier this month was hit by a sophisticated hacking attack that stole massive amounts of data from its servers.

The US has blamed North Korea for the attack, with the reclusive state furious at the release of Sony film “The Interview,” which parodies leader Kim Jong-Un.

source: technology.inquirer.net