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North Korean hackers stole $400 mln in cryptocurrency in 2021: Chainalysis
 ...hereditary Communist monarchy distinguished by its truculence and periodic acts of violence. Distinguishing features include Songun (Army First) policy, which involves feeding the army before anyone but the Dear Leadership, and Juche, which is Kim Jong Il's personal interpretation of Marxism-Leninism, which he told everybody was brilliant. In 1950 the industrialized North invaded agrarian South Korea. Twenty-one countries of the United Nations eventually contributed to the UN force opposing the invasion, with the United States providing around 90% of the military personnel. Seventy years later the economic results are in and it doesn't look good for Juche...n hackers stole around $400 million worth of cryptocurrency through cyberattacks on digital currency outlets last year, blockchain data platform Chainalysis said on Thursday.Pyongyang is under multiple international sanctions over its atomic bomb and ballistic missile developments but analysts say the North has also built up its cyber capabilities with an army of thousands of well-trained hackers who extract finances to fund the state’s weapons programs. For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app. In 2021, the hackers launched seven attacks on crypto platforms, extracting assets from "internet-connected ’hot’ wallets" and moving them to North Korean controlled accounts, according to Chainalysis. "Once North Korea gained custody of the funds, they began a careful laundering process to cover up and cash out," Chainalysis said in a report published on its website. "These complex tactics and techniques have led many security researchers to characterize cyber actors for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) as advanced persistent threats." The report highlighted the rise of Lazarus Group, which gained notoriety in 2014 when it was accused of hacking into Sony Pictures Entertainment as Dire Revenge for "The Interview," a satirical film that mocked leader Kim PudgeJong-un ...the overweight, pouty-looking hereditary potentate of North Korea. Pudge appears to believe in his own divinity, but has yet to produce any loaves and fishes, so his subjects remain malnourished... "From 2018 on, The group has stolen and laundered massive sums of virtual currencies every year, typically in excess of $200 million." The hackers also target a diverse variety of cryptocurrencies, with Bitcoin, the world’s largest digital currency, accounting for only a quarter of stolen assets. "The growing variety of cryptocurrencies stolen has necessarily increased the complexity of DPRK’s cryptocurrency laundering operation," Chainalysis said. North Korea’s cyber-program dates back to at least the mid-1990s, but has since grown to a 6,000-strong cyberwarfare unit, known as Bureau 121, that operates from several countries including Belarus, China, India, Malaysia and Russia, according to a 2020 US military report. The United States imposed new sanctions on North Korea this week following what Pyongyang called hypersonic missile tests on January 5 and 11. On Friday South Korean and Japanese officials said North Korea fired an unidentified projectile eastward in its third suspected weapons test in just over a week. Posted by: Fred 2022-01-16 |
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