Part of Bangladesh cyber-heist?
Yu Dong-yeol, director of the Korea Institute of Liberal Democracy, has accused the government of North Korea of running a multimillion-dollar online gambling ring, even though gambling is illegal for residents and those found participating could be sentenced to death.
According to Dong-yeol, in comments published on Casino.org, North Korea under dictator Kim Jong-un has generated more than $860 million running internet websites and developing and selling software to international offshore operators. “North Korea’s Reconnaissance General Bureau and departments relevant to IT operations run the sites,” Dong-yeol said at a recent security conference in Seoul, South Korea.
South Korean Defense Security Command Chief Cho Hyun-chun added that North Korea has 6,800 hackers trying to crack foreign systems; he said hackers targeting South Korea are “becoming more bold.”
There is speculation that North Korea played a role in the recent theft of $81 million from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, an account held by the Bangladesh Bank. Symantec Corp., a U.S.-based antivirus company, disclosed in May that portions of the code looked like that used by North Korean hackers.
In North Korea, gambling is permitted only for visitors who enter the country on business. Residents who gamble are subject to capital punishment, and their families also may be punished, the website reported.
