North Korean charged in Sony hack
LOS ANGELES — A computer programmer working for the North Korean government was charged with devastating cyberattacks that hacked Sony Pictures Entertainment and unleashed the Wannacry ransomware virus that infected computers in 150 countries and crippled parts of the British health care system, federal prosecutors said Thursday.
Park Jin Hyok, who is believed to be in North Korea, conspired to conduct a series of attacks that also stole $81 million from a bank in Bangladesh, according to charges unsealed in Los Angeles federal court following years of investigation. The U.S. believes he was working for a North Korean-sponsored hacking organization.
The U.S. government previously said North Korea was responsible for the 2014 Sony hack that led to the release of a trove of sensitive personal information about employees, including Social Security numbers, financial records, salary information, as well as embarrassing emails among top executives. The hack included four yet-to-be released Sony films, among them "Annie," and one that was in theaters, the Brad Pitt film "Fury," and cost the company tens of millions of dollars.
The FBI had long suspected North Korea was also behind last year's Wannacry cyberattack, which used malware to scramble data on hundreds of thousands of computers at hospitals, factories, government agencies, banks and other businesses across the globe.
"The criminal conduct outlined in this case is intolerable," said Tracy Wilkison, the first assistant U.S. attorney in Los Angeles. "The North Korean-backed conspiracy attempted to crush freedom of speech in the U.S. and the U.K. It robbed banks around the world. And it created indiscriminate malware that paralyzed computers and disrupted the delivery of medical care."
The charges were filed under seal June 8, four days before President Donald Trump's historic meeting with North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un, to discuss ending decades of hostility between the two countries. Prosecutors said the complaint was sealed for a variety of reasons and wasn't done to prevent derailing the Singapore talks.
"This has nothing to do with the summit and nothing to do with denuclearization," Wilkison said.
U.S. officials believe the Sony hack was retribution for "The Interview," a comedy starring Seth Rogen and James Franco in a plot to assassinate Kim. Sony canceled the theatrical release of the film amid threats to moviegoers. The company released it online through Youtube and other sites.
A Sony spokeswoman declined comment Thursday. Attempts by The Associated Press to reach the alleged hacker were not immediately successful. Two Gmail addresses identified in the FBI in the complaint were listed as disabled.