North Korea conducts low-level cybercrime to fill the state's coffers and geopolitics. They are like vikings; raiding an enemy and stealing all they can while they're there to keep the lights on. Hackers from Russia or China are higher up on the hierarchy of needs and attack targets for geopolitical advantage.
>Just because someone is hacking from Russia doesn't mean they are working for the FSB, or are doing it for non-commercial reasons.
That's why the reply a few comments up the chain said "These type of ransom seems to be state backed or at least tolerated."
"At least tolerated" part means that the hackers are doing it for their own purposes or for money, but not under command or employment from foreign federal agencies. Foreign federal agencies simply tolerate those hackers by looking the other way, since no skin off their backs for some ransom payments taken from some US entities.
What I am responding to in the grandparent post is:
> Hackers from Russia or China are higher up on the hierarchy of needs and attack targets for geopolitical advantage.
That is a completely different claim from what you are talking about. The throwaway account claims that foreign hackers are all political agents. (Which is an incredibly broad generalization to make about an entire country, that strips its residents of their agency, and would require extraordinary amounts of evidence to support.) Your statement does not support that interpretation - it argues that they are economic agents that are tolerated/encouraged/whatever by the political apparatus.
Your claim is compatible with mine. The throwaway account's, on the other hand, isn't.
