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DHS and FBI warn of North Korean malware targeted at defense contractors

The Department of Homeland Security and Federal Bureau of Investigation published an alert Wednesday about malware it claims North Korea has been using to hack defense contractors.

The alert, which provides a detailed technical analysis of the "BLINDINGCAN" trojan, appears to be tied to several reported employment scams attributed to North Korea by the cybersecurity firm ESET earlier this year. North Korean hackers recruited defense contractors to fake jobs over LinkedIn to slip malware-infected documents onto their systems. Collins Aerospace, Boeing and General Dynamics were among the companies used in the scam.

The federal alert, as with the ESET alert, attributes the attacks to the Lazarus Group, state-sponsored hackers best known for the Wannacry ransomware and Sony Pictures breach. Lazarus is also known as Hidden Cobra/

The DHS/FBI alert offers defenders information to aid in detection and attribution.

Joe Uchill

Joe is a senior reporter at SC Weekly, focused on policy issues. He previously covered cybersecurity for Axios, The Hill and the Christian Science Monitor’s short-lived Passcode website.

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