US State Department offers $10 million reward for North Korean hacker Rim's identity and location

BlockBeats news, July 28, according to DLNews, a U.S. grand jury charged North Korean citizen Rim Jong Hyok with conspiracy to hack and extort hospitals, launder ransom money, and fund intrusions into global defense, technology, and government entities. The U.S. State Department has offered a reward of up to $10 million for information about Rim's location or identity.

The assistant prosecutor said: "North Korean hackers have developed custom tools to target and extort U.S. healthcare providers and used their ill-gotten gains to fund large-scale hacking attacks on government and defense entities around the world." According to court documents, Rim and his accomplices worked for the Reconnaissance General Bureau, a North Korean military intelligence agency, in secret departments code-named "Andariel," "Onyx Sleet," and "APT45." The Justice Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) seized approximately $114,000 in cryptocurrency, proceeds from ransomware attacks and related money laundering transactions, as well as online accounts used by the group.