North Korea has Stolen In Excess of $1 Billion Worth of Crypto Assets

North Korean government-sponsored hackers have stolen more than $1 billion in digital assets since 2017.

South Korea’s main spy agency, the National Intelligence Service, has revealed that North Korean hackers have stolen an estimated 1.5 trillion won ($1.2 billion) in crypto assets over the past five years. ap news report good,

More than half that of 800 billion won ($626 million) has been stolen so far this year. In addition, more than 100 billion won ($78 million) of the total came from South Korea.

NIS has claimed that North Korea’s focus on cybercrime has made the country the best in the world for stealing crypto. The country has turned to cybercrimes in particular since 2017 after UN economic sanctions were toughened in response to its nuclear and missile tests.

The AP report says North Korea is using stolen crypto assets to fund its nuclear program and support its fragile economy, which has been battered over the past few years by harsh UN sanctions and the COVID-19 pandemic. The middle has steadily shrunk.

NIS expects North Korean hackers to further increase their illegal cyber activities in 2023 to steal advanced South Korean technologies and confidential information on South Korean foreign policy and national security.

Earlier this month, Japan, South Korea and the United States announced New sanctions on North Korean officials linked to the country’s weapons program. The move comes as North Korea has conducted a record number of missile tests this year despite economic difficulties.

US Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ban on crypto mixer Tornado Cash in early August for its alleged role in money laundering operations.

At the time, the department alleged that the mixing service had been used to launder more than $7 billion in cryptocurrencies since 2019, including laundering nearly $1 billion for the Lazarus Group, a North Korean-sponsored cybercriminal. is included.

According to the report, the North Korean Lazarus group of hackers is behind Hack of AXI Infinity’s Ronin Blockchain The hackers made off with approximately $625 million worth of Ethereum and USDC in one of the biggest crypto hacks of all time.

North Korea has repeatedly denied it wanted to hack crypto and has rebutted allegations surrounding Lazarus Group, which has previously been accused of masterminding the 2014 hack of Sony Pictures and the 2017 WannaCry ransomware attacks has gone.