Free email services were used for routine business as well as for phishing attacks and other crimes by a company identified as the Korean Expo Joint Venture, according to US justice department
Clues found in free email services such as Gmail helped US investigators track down a North Korean hacker charged on Thursday with crimes stemming from the 2014 attack on Sony Pictures Entertainment and the 2017 “WannaCry” ransomware operation.
The email services were used for routine business as well as for phishing attacks and other crimes by a company identified as the Korean Expo Joint Venture, a front group for the North Korean government, according to a justice department complaint filed in Los Angeles on Thursday.
“The scale and scope of the cybercrimes alleged by the complaint is staggering and offensive to all who respect the rule of law and the cyber norms accepted by responsible nations,” John Demers, head of the justice department’s National Security Division, said.
Sending a resume
The Korean Expo Joint Venture engaged both in hacking and regular business, working with clients on software and information technology projects and using free email services including Gmail, according to the criminal complaint. It said a clue that helped investigators break the case came when Park’s purported supervisor sent his resume and picture to another company in the course of doing its everyday technology operations.
Investigators accessed about 1,000 email and social media accounts using about 100 search warrants, and used them to piece together a picture of the hackers and their front operation, according to the complaint.
