North Korea’s Unprecedented Record in Cryptocurrency Theft
Leaked contents of a confidential United Nations report indicate that Pyongyang reached a record in financial cyber theft in 2022.
The report, seen by the German news agency, states that over the past six years, North Korean state-sponsored hackers have stolen approximately 1.2 billion dollars online. Pyongyang has used this money, sourced from investments in cryptocurrencies, to finance its nuclear and missile programs.
The cybersecurity industry has identified the state-sponsored hacking group Lazarus and its subsidiaries, Andariel and Kimsuky, as the main elements of North Korea’s cyber attacks and operations. They target cryptocurrency markets with sophisticated ransomware, locking users out of systems and making encrypted data accessible only after a ransom is paid.