North Korea Leads the World in Crypto Crime
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Even though the true extent of North Korea’s contribution to global crypto crime rates is unknown, Coincub stated that DPRK’s cyber program is large and well-organized.
Economically isolated from the rest of the world, North Korea has managed to birth a breed of hackers that have spearheaded some of the most catastrophic breaches. When it comes to crypto crime, skilled North Korean hackers have stolen funds for the country’s weapons programs by carrying out a series of profitable cyberattacks.
The crypto industry saw a major turning point in 2020-2021. It was during this time that a UN report claimed that North Korean hackers stole over and launched seven further attacks on such platforms to help fund their nuclear program. Cryptocurrency is one of the main sources of internet-based income generation in the country, and due to comprehensive international sanctions, all such transactions are fraudulent.
South Korean exchanges remain the most targeted. Bithumb, for one, was attacked four times by DPRK’s hackers. In total, the latter pocketed $60 million.
State-backed hacker group – Lazarus Group – was behind some of the biggest exploits in the last decades, including the Sony attack in 2014. The WannaCry hack was yet another stunt by the group that led to a massive ransomware cyberattack hitting institutions across the world in 2017.
The attack lasted for over 7 hours affecting around 200,000 computers in 150 countries. The main targets were Russia, India, Ukraine, and Taiwan. More recently, the group drained more than $620 million from Axie Infinity’s Ronin bridge earlier this year.
DPRK’s cyber program, which reportedly consists of 7,000 employees and operations in more than 150 countries, is likely to have conducted many heists that were never proven. With the rapid shift in the crypto space, DPRK’s hackers have also adapted to Web3 and are currently targeting DeFi, as per several US government agencies.
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