North Korean hackers posing as Voice of America journalists allegedly contacted specialists in nuclear security and weapons proliferation, a threat intelligence group has revealed.

The threat intelligence group claimed the trend was a developing pattern that hackers use to illegally gather classified information.

The online spies sought information about how other governments felt about Kim Jong Un’s regime in Pyongyang, according to a report from Mandiant, a cybersecurity firm based in the United States and a division of Google.

According to Mandiant Senior Analyst Gary Freas, at least seven journalists from five different news organisations have been impersonated by APT43.

“We have seen success in gathering sensitive information related to Korean Peninsula affairs,” such as targeted individuals answering questions about Western sentiment about North Korean activity, including nuclear proliferation and missile launches,” Mr Freas said.

Academics, officials, and others have frequently received fake emails purportedly from reporters of VOA’s Korean Service requesting comments. The queries were not real, the recipients of those emails were informed when they contacted the VOA Seoul bureau in some cases.