Israel Defense Thwarts North Korean Cyber Attack Against Defense Leaders

Israel’s Defense Ministry on Wednesday said hackers from a North Korea-backed group targeted local defense officials, luring them with fake LinkedIn profiles offering lucrative job offers in a failed attempt to gain access to their networks.

The attempted cyber attack by the international Lazarus Group, which has been identified by the U.S. Treasury as an intelligence organization of the North Korean regime, was thwarted and “no harm or disruption was made to their networks.”

“Members of the group used various hacking methods, including ‘social engineering’ and impersonation,” the Defense Ministry said.

The hackers targeted tech companies in the defense industry by impersonating CEOs and HR managers and tempting them with job offers and other business opportunities in a bid to gain access to their computers and databases.

“In the process of sending the job offers, the attackers attempted to compromise the computers of these employees, to infiltrate their networks and gather sensitive security information. The attackers also attempted to use the official websites of several companies in order to hack their systems,” the statement said.

“The Director of Security for the Defense Establishment will continue its work in thwarting attempts to breach the networks of Israeli defense industries, and any attempts to harm the technological capabilities and assets of the State of Israel,” the ministry said.