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The Lazarus Heist Spotify, Apple

We don’t know much about what happens in North Korea, and that’s the way they like it.

The secretive regime thinks the rest of the world is evil; trust us, Kim Jong-Un, the feeling is assuredly mutual.

The totalitarian leadership can’t do much but threaten the rest of the world with aggressive statements, now and then condemning our selfish imperialistic ways, which we all try to ignore as much as possible.

Recently, it seems North Korea has found a way of hitting the West where it hurts: our wallets.

The BBC World Service has released a new podcast about North Korea’s new wheeze; pinching money and data over the internet.

The Lazarus Heist documents the true story of an attempted $1 billion theft, which investigators say was carried out by a secretive ring of elite North Korean hackers.

It’s a murky world with lots of technical terms but cybercrime investigative journalist Geoff White and Pulitzer-nominated veteran foreign correspondent and world-renowned North Korea expert Jean Lee do a good job of explaining in simple terms what is going on behind the scenes with the group.

Imagine a team of statesponsored political fanatics who are also computer experts using cutting-edge technology to hack, steal and generally make a nuisance of themselves.

North Korea denies any involvement. Of course it does; security services worldwide agree the attacks originate in Pyongyang.White has been investigating the underworld of digital crime for years, while Lee has extensive experience of reporting from inside North Korea.

But these hackers still continue to embarrass some of the biggest companies in the world.