CNN —The US Justice Department on Thursday announced the indictment of an alleged North Korean government-backed hacker for allegedly participating in a scheme to break into US hospital computer systems and extort them for ransom. The hacks of health care providers locked up medical records and disrupted health care services in the US, US officials said. Thwarting North Korean hacking and money laundering has become a national security priority for the Biden administration. CNN previously reported on how South Korean spies and American companies try to intercept cryptocurrency stolen by North Korean hackers. Another CNN investigation identified one cryptocurrency entrepreneur who said his firm had unwittingly sent a North Korean IT worker tens of thousands of dollars.

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