Kaspersky Lab has disclosed new assaults by the North Korean hacker collective Andariel, extending beyond the usual targets to include several Russian companies. The information comes from a press release received by socialbites.ca.
Andariel is recognized as part of the Lazarus group, a DPRK-linked set of threat actors. This group gained notoriety after the 2017 WannaCry outbreak, which affected approximately 500,000 machines around the world. In the latest operations, Andariel is observed deploying a variant of the DTrack malware together with Maui ransomware as part of their toolkit.
Victims span the United States, Japan, India, Vietnam, and Russia. The attackers are described as focusing on organizations across a range of industries, with the primary criterion being the ability to pay substantial ransoms when compromised.
Maria Namestnikova, head of the Russian research center at Kaspersky Lab, commented on the evolving nature of Andariel’s campaigns. She noted that the group has shown increasing sophistication and a willingness to distribute ransomware on a global scale. The implication is clear: financial gain remains a central objective for the actors involved.
In related commentary, a former founder of the hacker collective Killnet discussed potential scenarios in cyber warfare, underscoring that human casualties are a theoretical concern in ongoing digital confrontations. This perspective highlights the broader geopolitical dimensions that accompany such cyber threats and the need for robust defense measures across nations and industries. [Source: Kaspersky Lab press release via socialbites.ca]