North Korean Hackers Compromise Widely Used Software in Supply Chain Attack

Washington D.C. Reports have emerged that North Korean hackers have planted a bug in a software package widely used by American companies. Security experts warn that this major supply chain attack could have repercussions lasting for months.

Speaking to CNN, experts stated that this attack is part of a long-term campaign aimed at stealing cryptocurrency to fund the North Korean regime. Funds generated from such thefts are often used to finance the country's nuclear and missile programs.

On Tuesday morning, Pyongyang-linked hackers gained control of the account of a developer managing the open-source software Axios for three hours. Using this access, the hackers pushed a malicious update to all organizations that downloaded the software. Following this, developers and cybersecurity officials across the country worked to assess the damage and regain control.

This software is used by companies in the health, finance, and various other sectors to build and manage their websites. Some cryptocurrency firms and technology companies also utilize this software. 

'We anticipate that they will attempt to steal cryptocurrency using the system access and credentials currently obtained. It is likely to take months to assess the impact of this campaign,' said Charles Carmakal, Chief Technology Officer at Mandiant, a cyber-intelligence company owned by Google. 

Security researcher John Hammond stated that approximately 135 devices across 12 companies have been affected by the bug. However, this is only preliminary data, and the number of victims is expected to rise.

This is the latest attack by North Korea targeting the supply chain. Three years ago, North Korean hackers compromised another popular software used by companies in the healthcare and hospitality sectors.