U.S. Treasury Sanctions North Korean IT Worker for Aiding Cyber Espionage and Cryptocurrency Theft

According to ChainCatcher, citing a report from CoinDesk, the U.S. Treasury Department’s sanctions regulator on Tuesday added North Korean national Song Kum Hyok to the “Specially Designated Nationals” list, accusing him of being a “malicious cyber actor” linked to North Korean hacker groups and engaging in cyber espionage activities.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has excluded Song Kum Hyok from the global financial system for arranging for other North Korean officials to work at various companies as IT personnel. These IT workers would remit funds back to North Korea and also sought to exploit company vulnerabilities for additional income.