Researchers: Asian bank hacks may be linked to North Korea

NEW YORK – Cybersecurity researchers said North Korea might be connected to a recent attack that resulted in the theft of over $100 million from the Bangladeshi central bank and the attempted thefts of millions more from other Asian banks.

If the finding holds up, the attacks would amount to a new strategy for the rogue nation, whose state-sponsored efforts have been have long been motivated by politics, not finance.

Security researchers at Symantec says that the malware used to steal $101 million from the Bangladesh bank in February is similar to that used in the past by a group known as “Lazarus.”

That group has been linked to a string of hackings dating back to 2009, including the 2014 Sony hack, which the FBI has blamed on the North Korean government .