North Korea's intelligence agency spied on the United Nations Security Council members using popular apps like Gmail and WhatsApp, said a report by Nikkei Asian Review citing an unpublished report.
The reclusive country targeted at least 11 officials from six member states of the Security Council in a bid to obtain information earlier this year, said the draft of the report, which is expected to be published in September. Messages to the officials were sent via Gmail and WhatsApp in disguise by the attackers, it said.
Details regarding the nature of those messages remained unknown and so are the names of the member states, which are possible victims of these cyberattacks. The draft of the report was submitted to the U.N. Security Council Sanctions Committee on North Korea, according to the Nikkei Asian Review.
The report also stated that Pyongyang evaded strict economic sanctions imposed by the UN by illegally gaining virtual assets such as cryptocurrencies, which reportedly used to generate income. North Korea's ambitions to continue to build nuclear weapons attracted criticism and sanctions from the US and its allies.
Russia and China are among the few countries that have relations with the country where human rights abuse has been reported repeatedly. According to reports, the isolated nation sends laborers to its allies to earn foreign income.
The country, under the leadership of Kim Jong Un, conducted several nuclear and missiles tests in the past. It was reported that North Korea is believed to have "probably developed miniaturized nuclear devices to fit into the warheads of its ballistic missiles."
