North Korean hackers have been responsible for a significant portion of all cryptocurrency stolen through hacks in recent years. In 2023 alone, they stole $600 million in crypto, accounting for 33% of all crypto thefts. Since 2017, groups tied to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) have stolen nearly $3 billion worth of crypto, according to a report by blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs. The report also reveals that hacks committed by the DPRK were, on average, ten times more devastating than those not associated with North Korea.
TRM Labs reports that the DPRK’s money laundering efforts are evolving to evade international law enforcement pressure. North Korea conducts almost all of its hacks by compromising private keys and seed phrases, transferring victims’ digital assets to wallet addresses controlled by North Korean groups. The assets are then swapped for mostly Tron or USDT and converted to fiat currency using OTC brokers.
Despite sanctions and enforcement actions targeting their previous obfuscation platforms, North Korean hackers have continued their activities. They have pivoted to other laundering tools, such as the BTC service Sinbad, after their previous go-to platforms were sanctioned. Hackers affiliated with the North Korean government have also turned to using a new crypto mixer to launder stolen digital assets after their previous one, Blender, was sanctioned for aiding the Lazarus Group, which was responsible for some of the most prolific 2023 hacks.
Despite advancements in cybersecurity and increased international collaboration in tracking and recovering stolen funds, North Korea has continued to disrupt the crypto sector. In the past two years, they have stolen over $1.5 billion. In 2022, North Korea accounted for a third of crypto cyber losses, most notably through the Lazarus Group, which resulted in over $1 billion lost from the crypto sector.
However, despite North Korea’s continued crypto exploit efforts, crypto losses due to hacks were down 51% in 2023 compared to 2022. Blockchain security firm CertiK found that $1.8 billion in crypto assets were lost across 751 security breaches in 2023, compared to $3.7 billion in crypto losses in 2022 due to hacks, scams, and exploits. CertiK’s report indicates that private key compromises were the most costly attack vector.
This News Article was automatically generated by Bob the Bot (AI)
| Information | Details |
|---|---|
| Geography | Asia |
| Countries | 🇺🇸 |
| Sentiment | negative |
| Relevance Score | 1 |
| People | None |
| Companies | Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, TRM Labs, Elliptic Enterprises, Lazarus Group, Council on Foreign Relations, CertiK |
| Currencies | Tether, TRON |
| Securities | None |
