US seeks to disrupt North Korean cyber operations with $5M bounty
The US government offered a reward up to $5 million for information that helps disrupt North Korea's cryptocurrency theft, cyber-espionage, and other illicit state-backed activities.
The cash will be awarded "for information that leads to the disruption of financial mechanisms of persons engaged in certain activities that support North Korea, including money laundering, exportation of luxury goods to North Korea, specified cyber-activity and actions that support WMD proliferation," according to the Feds.
This includes "information on those who seek to undermine cybersecurity, including financial institutions and cryptocurrency exchanges around the world, for the benefit of the Government of North Korea." The State Department announced the cash incentive, which is part of its Rewards for Justice program, on Friday. The bounty comes a day after the FBI blamed Lazarus Group, the cybercrime gang that does the dirty work for North Korea's Reconnaissance General Bureau, for the theft of $620 million from video game Axie Infinity's Ronin Network.
