{
	"id": "4690d378-614b-4f2b-b2d2-d968f0d3a0ee",
	"created_at": "2026-04-06T00:07:26.436484Z",
	"updated_at": "2026-04-10T03:37:40.824926Z",
	"deleted_at": null,
	"sha1_hash": "355d49b83ec5da7f1b8a0dd2d0a542d7f43ab84e",
	"title": "North Korean hackers breach South Korea's atomic research agency through VPN bug",
	"llm_title": "",
	"authors": "",
	"file_creation_date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
	"file_modification_date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
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	"plain_text": "North Korean hackers breach South Korea's atomic research\r\nagency through VPN bug\r\nBy Catalin Cimpanu\r\nPublished: 2022-12-16 · Archived: 2026-04-05 18:02:16 UTC\r\nSouth Korean officials said on Friday that hackers believed to be operating out of North Korea breached\r\nthe internal network of the South Korean Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI), the government\r\norganization that conducts research on nuclear power and nuclear fuel technology.\r\nIn a press conference, a KAERI spokesperson said the intrusion took place last month on May 14, through a\r\nvulnerability in a virtual private network (VPN) server.\r\nThirteen different IPs were seen abusing the vulnerability and accessing the organization's internal network.\r\nOne of these IP addresses was linked to attack infrastructure used by Kimsuky, a North Korean cyber-espionage\r\ngroup.\r\nThe name of the VPN server vendor was redacted in documents presented to South Korean press today at a\r\nKAERI press conference.\r\nKAERI held a press conference today after news of the hack leaked to reporters earlier this month, and the agency\r\ncame under criticism for initially denying the intrusion.\r\nIn a press release posted on its website after the press conference, the agency apologized for its initial denial.\r\nNews of Kimsuky's KAERI hack comes after security firm Malwarebytes published a report at the start of the\r\nmonth exposing a Kimsuky spear-phishing campaign that targeted several South Korean government entities, but\r\nhttps://therecord.media/north-korean-hackers-breach-south-koreas-atomic-research-agency-through-vpn-bug/\r\nPage 1 of 2\n\nalso the nuclear security officer for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), a UN organization tasked\r\nwith nuclear regulations and cooperation.\r\nAll North Korean cyber-espionage groups, not just Kimsuky, have all been historically interested in nuclear\r\nenergy and nuclear arms-related targets, primarily due to the country's controversial nuclear weapons program.\r\nIn September 2019, the US Treasury Department sanctioned three North Korean hacking groups (Lazarus,\r\nAndariel, Bluenoroff) for hacks aimed at stealing funds to funnel back into the country's nuclear weapons and\r\nmissile programs.\r\nSource: https://therecord.media/north-korean-hackers-breach-south-koreas-atomic-research-agency-through-vpn-bug/\r\nhttps://therecord.media/north-korean-hackers-breach-south-koreas-atomic-research-agency-through-vpn-bug/\r\nPage 2 of 2",
	"extraction_quality": 1,
	"language": "EN",
	"sources": [
		"ETDA"
	],
	"references": [
		"https://therecord.media/north-korean-hackers-breach-south-koreas-atomic-research-agency-through-vpn-bug/"
	],
	"report_names": [
		"north-korean-hackers-breach-south-koreas-atomic-research-agency-through-vpn-bug"
	],
	"threat_actors": [
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			"created_at": "2022-10-25T15:50:23.347455Z",
			"updated_at": "2026-04-10T02:00:05.295717Z",
			"deleted_at": null,
			"main_name": "Andariel",
			"aliases": [
				"Andariel",
				"Silent Chollima",
				"PLUTONIUM",
				"Onyx Sleet"
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			"source_name": "MITRE:Andariel",
			"tools": [
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				"gh0st RAT"
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			"source_id": "MITRE",
			"reports": null
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				"PLUTONIUM",
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