North Korean hackers exploited Seoul Halloween tragedy to distribute malware, Google says

North Korean government-backed hackers referenced the deadly Halloween crush in Seoul to distribute malware to users in South Korea, Google's (GOOGL.O) Threat Analysis group said in a report.The malware was embedded in Microsoft Office documents which purported to be a government report on the tragedy that killed more than 150 people after tens of thousands of young revellers crowded into narrow alleyways.

"This incident was widely reported on, and the lure takes advantage of widespread public interest in the accident," the Threat Analysis Group said.

Google attributed the activity to a North Korean hacking group known as APT37 which it said targets South Korean users, North Korean defectors, policy makers, journalists and human rights activists. Google also said it has not determined what the malware, which exploited an Internet Explorer vulnerability, was intended to achieve. It reported the problem to Microsoft on Oct. 31 after multiple reports from South Korean users on the same day. Microsoft issued a patch on Nov. 8.