North Korea Hackers Breached Top Russian Missile Maker. Are They not Supporting Russia?

Anonymous Korea successfully breached Russian Missile maker NPO Mashinostroyeniya for at least five months last year, security researchers report.

As per reports, the North Korean government is in direct contact with these hackers. Nonetheless, the group stealthily installed backdoors into systems at NPO, a rocket bureau in Reutov, Moscow.

However, researchers are finding it hard to determine if the threat actors carted away any data. The company also failed to disclose whether it lost any data during the espionage.

Furthermore, following the cyber breach at the Reutov office systems, Pyongyang announced several developments in its banned ballistic missile program but it is not clear if it was related to the supposed breach.

The Russian Missile Maker Breach Was for Info

Many experts say the incident illustrates how the isolated country will even target its allies for its own benefit when necessary in an attempt to obtain enough technological protection, including Russia.

Moreover, NPO Mash grew to prominence during the Cold War era as a premier satellite maker for Russia’s space program and as a provider of cruise missiles.

Notably, the company did not make any official statement about this, leaving the situation in a very sensitive spot.

Nonetheless, the details of the breach came to light shortly after Russian defense minister Sergei Shoigu’s trip to Pyongyang last month for the 70th anniversary of the Korean War.

NPO Mash, as popularly known, has acted as a spearhead for the development of satellite techs, hypersonic missiles, and top new generational ballistic armaments, based on Missile experts.

Hackers’ Mode of Data Extraction

The breach roughly began in late 2021 and it went on till May 2022, when its IT engineers detected the hacker’s activity, according to a reviewed report by Reuters.

Reports claim hackers breached NPO IT systems, dug out email traffic, extracted data and passed on nasty software in a subtle espionage mission.

Notably, an IT staff denied any of the supposed breaches and with further information yet to be provided, he claimed no system was breached.