North Korean state-sponsored hacking group Andariel — also known as APT45, Silent Chollima, Onyx Sleet, Dark Seoul, and Stonefly/Clasiopa — had its member Rim Jong Hyok charged and subjected to up to $10 million in bounties for any information leading to his arrest by the U.S. for his involvement in Maui ransomware attacks against U.S. critical infrastructure and healthcare entities, BleepingComputer reports.
Ransoms extorted by Rim and his co-conspirators from healthcare providers across the U.S. have been leveraged to support additional attacks against the country's government organizations and foreign defense contractors, according to the U.S. State Department. Such a development comes amid a joint alert from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the FBI, as well as the UK and South Korean cybersecurity agencies warning about Andariel's widespread targeting of nuclear, engineering, aerospace, and defense firms' intellectual property and military data, including bills of materials, contract specifications, and design drawings, to support North Korea's defense and nuclear programs.
