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WASHINGTON – A North Korean spy has been accused of hacking Sony Pictures Entertainment in 2014, the Justice Ministry said Thursday, accusing the North of orchestrating a huge plot that has caused economic damage worth hundreds of millions of dollars in the last five years in the United States and around the world.
The suspect, Park Jin-hyok, has been charged with computer fraud and bank fraud. He has been involved in attacks on film companies and distributors, including Sony Pictures, financial institutions and defense companies, law enforcement officials said. He has also been accused of being part of the development of the WannaCry 2.0 Ransomware attack, which infected hundreds of thousands of computers worldwide and paralyzed the UK health care system last year.
According to US intelligence officials, Mr. Park appeared to work for North Korea's General Reconnaissance Office, the closest equivalent to the CIA. It is believed that the same intelligence agency is behind the CIA. WannaCry attack and Bangladesh central bank robberies that have raised tens of millions of dollars for the North.
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"The North Korean government, through a state-sponsored group, has robbed a central bank and citizens of other countries against freedom of expression to deter it and created malware that has affected the victims of more than 150 other countries. country, causing hundreds of millions, even billions of dollars of damage, "said John C. Demers, head of the National Security Division of the Department of Justice in a statement.
"These charges will send a message that we are going to search for malicious actors, no matter how and where they are hiding," he added.
Mr. Park, who also met the alias Pak Jin Hek, will probably never see inside a US courtroom. The United States does not have direct and formal relations with North Korea and has not communicated with their reclusive government before the charges.
A few hours before the Justice Ministry was supposed to act, President Trump seemed to congratulate North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, say on Twitter that he "proclaims" an unshakeable faith in President Trump ". Thank you to President Kim. We will do it together. "
It was not clear if Mr. Trump was aware of the upcoming charges. When asked if the White House had been informed of the complaint prior to his release, an official of the Justice Department would have only stated that it was customary to inform the parties involved in the executive branch.
Also on Thursday, the Treasury Department announced that he had added Mr. Park's name to his sanctions list, which means that no bank or other financial institution that does business in the United States will can also do business with Mr. Park or Chosun. Joint Joint Venture, also known as KEJV
"We will not allow North Korea to jeopardize global cyber security to advance its interests and generate illicit revenues in violation of our sanctions," said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
The sanctions are unlikely to have much effect on Mr. Park and are a less powerful tool than the criminal charges to ensure that Mr. Park can not travel far from North Korea.
In its 179-page complaint, the government developed a complex, one-year program to undermine institutions around the world and steal millions of dollars.
The attack on Sony Pictures alone wiped out 70% of the studio's computing capacity, wiping out all the data on about half of the company's personal computers and more than half of its servers, in retaliation for the production of A comic film. "The interview", who laughed at Mr. Kim and portrayed a plot for the murder.
The hacking of November 2014 shocked the 7,000 employees of Sony Pictures, who were greeted with macabre footage of the severed head of studio head Michael Lynton when they turned on their computers. Sony has shut down all of its computer systems, including those in overseas offices, leaving the company without voice mail, e-mail, or production systems, essentially crippling operations.
The crime has shown how vulnerable the United States has become to cybercriminals and how ill-intentioned actors living far away from home could cripple American businesses. The pirates would be soon infiltrate the Office of Personnel Management, the White House email system and the I.R.S.
The early hacker communications did not mention "The Interview", and the notion of North Korean involvement was nothing more than a paranoid murmur at Sony. But this fear was confirmed soon after when the F.B.I. pinned the crime on North Korea and the White House imposed sanctions on the country.
The attack tarnished the studio's reputation when hackers threw huge amounts of stolen files on anonymous registration sites: emails, contracts, pay lists, film budgets, medical records, digital copies of five movies integers.
The files seemed to respond to all the fantasies of Hollywood gossip about what is being said behind the walls of the studios. Amy Pascal, then director of the studio, was arrested exchange racist jokes about the alleged taste of President Barack Obama in African-American films. A major Sony producer, Scott Rudin, has been found to be harshly criticizing Angelina Jolie.
By mid-December, hackers had identified "The Interview" as a source of anger. "Soon, the whole world will see what Sony Pictures Entertainment has achieved as a film," said a message. "The world will be full of fear. Remember September 11, 2001. "
By the time the episode was over, the studio was found entangled in a clash of censorship, with advocates of freedom of expression and even President Obama, criticizing Sony for temporarily putting " The Interview "away.
Hollywood was largely silent, allowing Sony and Mrs. Pascal to twist in the wind. In February, Pascal lost her job, switching to a lucrative production deal with Sony.
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