As a crypto enthusiast, I received a joint statement today from the U.S., Japan, and South Korea, cautioning about the risks posed by North Korean cryptocurrency hackers. They emphasized the importance of strengthening collaborations between their public and private sectors to thwart these cybersecurity threats.
In the year 2024, I found that hacker groups originating from North Korea have managed to swipe at least $1.3 billion worth of digital assets. These cyber thefts could potentially be used as a means for the country to finance its ballistic missile development programs, raising concerns about their ambitions and potential threats to global security.
A Call For Transnational Public-Private Collaboration
A unified declaration was made by the United States, Japan, and South Korea, expressing their strong disapproval towards North Korea, highlighting its substantial risk to the security and balance of the worldwide financial structure as well as the larger international community.
Together, our three administrations are working hard to stop North Korea from stealing assets from private industries and to retrieve stolen money. The aim is to deprive North Korea of any illegal income used for its development of unlawful weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles.
Based on the details given, it appears that North Korean cybercriminals tend to focus their attacks on cryptocurrency trading platforms, institutions responsible for holding digital assets, and even individual users.
As an analyst, my investigations indicate that certain cyberattacks traced back to North Korea might be orchestrated by their tech-savvy IT personnel. These individuals seemingly infiltrate cryptocurrency and Web3 organizations, successfully breaching their systems and impairing their functioning.
The U.S., Japan, and South Korea are urging private companies, especially those involved in blockchain technology and freelance work, to carefully study these warnings and announcements so they can take appropriate measures to protect against cyber threats and avoid accidentally hiring North Korean IT workers.
The announcement additionally emphasized the importance of increased cooperation between the public and private sectors within all three countries, with a focus on taking action ahead of time against these cybercriminal activities.
North Korean Hackers Stole Record Amounts in 2024
As a crypto investor, I’ve come to realize that hackers with ties to North Korea have earned a reputation for their sophisticated and persistent cyber assaults. These attacks typically employ advanced malware, manipulative social engineering tactics, and cryptocurrency heists to finance state-backed initiatives and sidestep international sanctions.
Based on Chainalysis’s study, North Korean hacker groups are reported to have swiped around $660.5 million in about 20 separate instances in the year 2023. However, this figure escalated significantly to approximately $1.34 billion taken across 47 incidents in 2024. This marks a staggering increase of more than 102%.
Experts, both domestic and foreign, believe that North Korea embezzles money from digital currency heists to support their development of nuclear weapons and missile technology. Such actions represent a substantial risk to global safety.
About three weeks back, the authorities in South Korea imposed sanctions on fifteen individuals belonging to North Korean information technology organizations, who are said to have been involved in financially supporting their country’s nuclear weapons development projects.
The statement from South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicates that North Korean IT experts often pose as employees of government-linked organizations like the Ministry of Defense, traveling to countries such as China, Russia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and others. They disguise their true identities and take on work assignments from international IT companies. It is also reported that some of these individuals engage in data theft and cyber attacks.
Hackers also use illicit funds to develop military-related software.
Notably, the notorious hacking group from North Korea, known as Lazarus, is responsible for some of the biggest cyber heists in the digital economy or Web3 industry.
The statement issued by the U.S., Japan, and South Korea indicates that cyber threat groups linked with North Korea, such as the Lazarus Group (which has been recognized by the authorities of all three countries), consistently exhibit harmful online activities.
In October, the U.S. authorities confiscated Bitcoin and Tether associated with the Lazarus Group following their theft of approximately $879 million. Additionally, the U.S. government filed two lawsuits to seize more than $2.67 million in digital assets that were stolen.
Based on the documents submitted, the seizure warrant targets two significant cybertheft incidents. Among these are approximately 1.7 million USDT that were taken from the Deribit options trading platform and more than $970,000 in Bitcoin.
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2025-01-15 00:06