In 2024, the notorious North Korean operatives again proved their skills in the dark world of cybercrime by pocketing a grand sum of $659 million through numerous bitcoin heists. This confirmation came to light in a unique conjoined statement by Japan, South Korea, and the USA. Adding to their illicit resume, North Korea also erected a network of pseudo job applicants to break into blockchain enterprises as insider threats.
July 2024 saw a notable attack with a loss of $235M from WazirX, India’s most prominent crypto marketplace, compelling it into a trading halt and subsequent firm restructure. Lazarus Group, the notorious North Korean hacking guild, masterminded this operation.
This attack formed part of a series including heists aggregating $308M from Japan’s DMM Bitcoin, and $50 million each from Upbit and Radiant Capital, along with a $16.13M loss from Rain Management. Their disruptive techniques extended beyond hacking, where North Korean IT professionals camouflaged as harmless job aspirants infiltrated firms. This led to urgent advisories from governments to blockchain and gig industries.
Backing the severity of the crypto thefts, the U.N. suggested that between 2017 and 2023, North Korea had amassed $3B in cryptocurrency to fuel its embargoed nuclear ventures. In 2024 alone, per data from Chainalysis, the rogue country accounted for a staggering 61% of the total $1.34 billion cryptocurrency thefts.
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