- Most of last year’s crimes were committed by the Lazarus Group.
- The United States has imposed sanctions on the organization.
According to a new analysis, one of the most profitable years in the history of North Korean cybercrime was 2021, with about $400 million worth of cryptocurrencies stolen.
There were at least seven separate assaults on investment businesses and central exchanges last year that used a range of techniques, including malware and social engineering. Chainalysis is a service that monitors crypto. An effort was made to take control of “hot” wallets, which are internet-enabled digital wallets, in order to transfer payments to accounts controlled by the DPRK.
The firm mentioned:
“In 2021, only 20% of the stolen funds were bitcoin, whereas 22% were either ERC-20 tokens or altcoins. And for the first time, ether accounted for a majority of the funds stolen at 58%.”
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The new thefts show that the severely sanctioned government depends on a network of hackers to help finance its domestic projects. In order to pay for weapons and keep North Korea’s economy afloat, the Kim Jong Un leadership was charged in a previously unreleased UN report.
Expect More Such Attacks
North Koreans have been accused of stealing more than $1.3 billion from banks and businesses throughout the globe and conducting digital heists of crypto by the US Justice Department. Moreover, from 2020 to 2021, the value of hacked crypto rose by 40%.
Cyberattacks carried out by North Korea have taken advantage of a rise in the value of cryptocurrency. More massive crypto heists are expected in 2022 due to the surge in cryptocurrency values and use, which makes digital assets more appealing to criminals.
Most of last year’s crimes were committed by the Lazarus Group, a hacker collective with North Korean ties that were previously implicated in the Sony Pictures attack, according to Chainalysis. The United States has imposed sanctions on the organization.
