North Korean Hackers Blamed for ATM-Related Attacks
North Korean hackers have been tampering with ATMs across the world to steal millions in cash, according to US investigators.
On Tuesday, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security issued a technical alert blaming the North Korean government for perpetrating an ATM cash-out scheme that has hit banks in Asia and Africa.
The attacks, which began late in 2016, have allowed the hackers to simultaneously withdraw cash from ATMs located in dozens of different countries, federal investigators claim. In total, "tens of millions of dollars" may have been stolen, the alert warns. The scheme works by tampering with the special payment servers banks use to authorize cash withdrawals. According to US investigators, the North Koreans hackers secretly reconfigured these servers to issue fraudulent, but legitimate-looking cash withdrawal requests.
