The Justice Department has charged three North Korean hackers with attempting to steal and extort $1.3 billion in cash and bitcoin from companies through a series of hacking schemes, according to charges unsealed Wednesday. The charges stem from an investigation that began with the alleged North Korean hacking of Sony in 2014, according to The Washington Post. As part of the scheme, they allegedly created “spear-phishing campaigns” targeting workers at the U.S. Defense Department and the State Department, as well as employees of energy and tech firms. According to the Justice Department, a Canadian-American has also pleaded guilty in a money laundering scheme to assist the North Korean hackers, who belong to a military intelligence agency. “The Department will continue to confront malicious nation state cyber activity with our unique tools and work with our fellow agencies and the family of norms abiding nations to do the same,” assistant Attorney General John Demers said in a statement.