- The Treasuryโs Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) targets the DPRK.
- Binanceย Cryptoย exchange helped freeze $4.4M tied to known North Korean cybercriminals.
- North Koreaโs regime stole over $635M aย yearย ago, financing ballistic missiles.
The leading cryptocurrency exchange Binanceย Cryptoย exchange disclosed that they managed to trace and freeze $4.4 Million of funds tied to terrorist organizations connected to North Korea. Nonetheless, North Koreaโs attackers were a pain in the rear end for numerous blockchainย tech enthusiasts in 2022.
Reportsย by Unitedย States Treasury documents, these hacker groups, working for the totalitarian regime of supreme leader Kim Jong Un, have collectively stolen a whopping $635 Million throughout a record-breaking year of phishing hacks and scams for crypto.
Inย addition of that, the Unitedย States Government reports that these illicit funds are usually used toย finance the regimeโs missile tests and other dangerous nuclear experiments.
On-Chain Sleuths to End Kim Jong Unโs Sinister Plans?
Althoughย while the highly-trained North Korean specialists are being used as tools by their Government toย finance more devastation weapons, on-chain investigators are doing their best to prevent the bad actors from cashing out.ย
Nonetheless, internet detectives can use their expertise on the blockchainย tech more thoroughly. The transparency lies in that any blockchainย tech transaction can be traced back to the sender, as the registry is publicly accessible.
Althoughย while Binanceโs Changpeng โCZโ Zhao stated how the Binanceย Cryptoย exchange team previously retrieved the $5.8 Million from the infamous Axie Infinity hack aย yearย ago, another $4.4 Million was traced through investigation of illicit IT working activities, which has been the go-to for North Korean attackers so far in 2023.
Reportsย by this tactic, North Korean cybercriminals use fake identification to get freelance jobs overseas, while most work opportunities are crypto-related. Posing as citizens of other countries, the North Korean fraudsters siphon the funds back to the Hermit Kingdom.
The other side
- Unitedย States authorities claim these North Korean attackers are not solely based in North Korea.
- Reportsย by the OFAC, the same people are involved in Lazarus-affiliated gangs in Russia and China.
Why This Matters
Cybercrime has been on the boost since 2022, while North Korea is leading in stolen digitalย currency by far, with over $635 Million worth of cryptocurrency stolen last year.
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