N Korea-backed hackers deploy new malware-led cyberattack: Report

Seoul: A North Korea-linked hacking group has launched a new form of cyberattack that remotely controls Android smartphones and personal computers (PCs) to delete key data, including photos, documents and contact information, a report showed on Monday.

The group, believed to be affiliated with Pyongyang-sponsored groups Kimsuky or APT37, infiltrated victims' smartphones and PCs through malware distributed via KakaoTalk and stole account information for Google and major domestic IT services, according to the report by the Genians Security Center (GSC), a South Korean cybersecurity institute.

They remotely reset the smartphones after using Google's location-based tracking system to confirm the victims were outside their homes or offices, reports Yonhap news agency.