Pyongyang epicenter of crypto hacks – The cryptocurrency market hit $3 trillion at its peak last November. Faced with these staggering amounts, many hackers are trying to get out of the game by getting their hands on the precious BTCs of ordinary users. Thus, North Korean hackers seem to have mastered this art to perfection.
North Korea: cradle of cyberattacks
This is no news for anyone, computer networks are a territory where countries around the world are waging a perpetual war. This war is being waged with great blows of proxy cyberattacks and monitoring.
China, Russia or the United States are often cited among the most aggressive nations in the field. However, other nations seem to have developed a certain expertise in the field and in particular in that of cryptocurrencies.
This is particularly the case of the sulphurous North Korea, country on which the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) focused its latest report. This one is specifically devoted to a small group of hackers, known as Lazarus Group.
” Since 2014, the Pyongyang-led cybercriminal organization known as the Lazarus Group has transformed from a team of rogue hackers into a masterful army of cybercriminals and foreign affiliates capable of compromising major financial networks and steal hundreds of millions of dollars in virtual assets. »
summarizes the report.
The group of hackers is, among other things, suspected of having carried out the attack that targeted the Kucoin exchange platform in September 2020. This had caused the loss of $ 280 million in cryptocurrencies.
The CNAS report highlights the level of sophistication both during the attack and during the laundering of funds a posteriori. However, this did not prevent the CNAS from identifying a few errors that made it possible to link the small group to theattack.
A thesis also supported by the report published by chain analysis in the month of January. According to their data, North Korea was behind the theft of approximately $400 million in cryptocurrency in 2021.
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Crypto-related attacks: Russia and North Korea neck and neck
Besides North Korea, another country stands out when it comes to cryptocurrency-related fraud and cyberattacks. Indeed, Russia would be the cradle of ransomware.
This was revealed by the study published by Chainalysis about the ransomware. Thus, according to their data, the Chainalysis teams managed to identify that: 74% of Ransomware Revenue Passed Through Russia One Way or Another.
In terms of money laundering, Russia is also a bad student. Thus about 13% of the funds passing through the Moscow-based crypto companies may have been associated with illicit activities and potentially money laundering schemes.
Earlier this month, the UN alerted the international community to the development of a nuclear missile program in North Korea. According to their report, these programs would be happily financed thanks to cryptocurrencies stolen by Pyongyang experts.
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