UN probes N. Korea fund raising to beat sanctions

UN experts say they are investigating at least 35 instances in 17 countries of North Koreans using cyberattacks to illegally raise money for weapons of mass destruction programmes – and they are calling for sanctions against ships providing petrol and diesel to the country.the report cites three main ways that North Korean cyber hackers operate: Attacks through the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication or SWIFT system used to transfer money between banks, ‘‘with bank employee computers and infrastructure accessed to send fraudulent messages and destroy evidence’’, theft of cryptocurrency ‘‘through attacks on both exchanges and users’’ and ‘‘mining of cryptocurrency as a source of funds for a professional branch of the military.’’