The U.S. Treasury signed sanctions against three hacking groups actively engaged in cyber operations meant to bring financial assets to the government of North Korea. The groups are Lazarus, Bluenoroff, and Andariel, well-known in the security industry for cyber operations aimed at cyberespionage, data theft, monetary reward, and data destruction. By signing the sanctions, the U.S. Treasury U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) puts a lock on all properties and financial assets owned by the three groups in the U.S. and prohibits all dealings involving these goods. The sanctions extend to "any foreign financial institution that knowingly facilitates a significant transaction or provides significant financial services for any of the entities," could become the target of sanctions. All three groups operate at the command of the Reconnaissance General Bureau (RGB), which is North Korea’s primary intelligence bureau. Lazarus Group (a.k.a. Hidden Cobra), which is the larger of the three hacking entities and considered an umbrella for the others, was created in early 2007 and it is coordinated by the 110th Research Center, 3rd Bureau of the RGB; this bureau is charged with technical surveillance and it is the architect of North Korea's cyber operations. Infamous incidents attributed to Lazarus Group include the attack on Sony Pictures - known as Operation Blockbuster, back in 2014 and the WannaCry ransomware global epidemic in 2017. One of the most notable heists attempted by this group was against the Bangladesh Central Bank, which stood to lose about $1 billion, were it not for two mistakes from the hackers. One of them was a typo, the other misstep was choosing a recipient that had been flagged for evading U.S. sanctions against Iran. In total, Bluenoroff (APT38) hackers managed to steal $81 million from just four transfers out of a total of 35. The third hacker group associated with the North Korean government is called Andariel. Operating since at least 2015, the outfit is known to focus on foreign businesses, government agencies, entities in the defense industry, financial services infrastructure, and private corporations. Find this interesting and want to know more visit OUR FORUM.

This review was written after using Android 10 for the past two months, as well as a week of the final release which is much the same as the previous betas. Android 10 is Google’s latest Android software version and is the version of Android that will be on the Pixel 4 when it launches. There aren’t many huge features packed in here as there would be with iOS. This isn’t a knock on Android however, it’s because Google trickles down features to its apps via the Play Store rather than waiting for a single large annual update. With Android 10, Google will also start pushing security updates via the Play Store as well. So enough about what’s not new here, here’s what IS new here. While Android 10 has a bevy of new features, only a few of them are directly relevant or even worth mentioning to new users. The first is the new gestures system, the second is the dark theme, and the last is the new privacy system. Before that, there are a whole bunch of other interesting features Google’s advertised with Android 10. We’ve got Live Caption, a feature that’ll let your phone add captions to whatever audio is playing automatically even if there aren’t any subtitles present. It’s meant to be an accessibility feature and something that’ll improve the quality of life of Android users with hearing difficulties. Google has also announced Focus Mode, a series of features to help users improve their productivity on their phones. Aside from being highlighted on the Android 10 official release, both features have the dubious distinctions of not actually being present in the final release itself almost as if Gooogle couldn’t be bothered to complete its work before releasing the project. And that’s an issue with Android 10 in general that I’ve noticed. Read the review on OUR FORUM.