North Korean Hackers Stole $400m In Crypto Currency

North Korean hackers stole at least $400m (£291) in crypto currencies and other digital assets in 2021, according to an analysis of blockchain activity by Chainalysis, who say it was one of most successful years to date for cyber criminals in the closed east Asian state. 

Indeed, it looks like North Korean cyber criminals have been responsible for launching at least seven attacks on crypto currency platforms, mainly targeting investment firms and centralised exchanges. 

So successful are these attacks that some experts now  recommend investors move large amounts of crypto currency not needed day-to-day to "cold" wallets, disconnected from the wider internet.

Although North Korea has repeatedly denied being involved in hack attacks attributed to them, according the Chainanalysis, "From 2020 to 2021, the number of North Korean-linked hacks jumped from four to seven, and the value extracted from these hacks grew by 40%," The hackers used a number of techniques, including phishing lures, code exploits and malware to siphon funds from the organisations' "hot" wallets and then moved them into North Korea-controlled addresses, the company said.

These complex tactics and techniques have led many security researchers to characterise cyber actors for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) as advanced persistent threats (APTs). 

This is especially true for APT 38, also known as “Lazarus Group,” which is led by North Korea’s primary intelligence agency, the so-called General Reconnaissance Bureau. While these exploits are attributed to  North Korean-linked hackers, these attacks were most likely carried out by the Lazarus Group alone.

The Lazarus Group has previously been accused of involvement in the WannaCry ransomware attacks, the hacking of international banks and customer accounts and cyber attacks on Sony Pictures in 2014.

Chainalysis did not identify all the targets of the hacks, but said they were primarily investment firms and centralised exchanges, including the Japanese Liquid Exchannge, which announced in August 2021 that an unauthorised user had gained access to some of the crypto-currency wallets it managed.

The attackers used phishing lures, code exploits, malware and advanced social engineering to extract  funds out of these organisations’ internet-connected “hot” wallets into North Korea-controlled addresses.

The report said researchers had identified $170m in old, unlaundered crypto-currency holdings from 49 separate hacks spanning from 2017 to 2021. "Once North Korea gained custody of the funds, they began a careful laundering process to cover up and cash out."  The report said it was unclear why the hackers would still be sitting on these funds but that they could be hoping to outwit law enforcement interest before cashing out. “Whatever the reason may be, the length of time that North Korea is willing to hold on to these funds is illuminating, because it suggests a careful plan, not a desperate and hasty one.”

A United Nations panel of experts that monitors sanctions on North Korea has accused Pyongyang of using stolen funds to support its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes to circumvent sanctions. 

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