A recent UN report highlights North Korea’s significant role in sanctions enforcement and cyberattacks specifically targeting cryptocurrency companies amid nuclear concerns.
The United Nations Security Council has released a new report indicating North Korea’s involvement in cyberattacks, which now accounts for nearly half of the country’s foreign exchange earnings, is expanding, Nikkei Asia reported. Although the investigation is still ongoing, the report points out that North Korea has already made about $3 billion due to insufficient security measures by protocols, companies, and other cryptocurrency-related entities.
The report is not legally binding, but could allow the Security Council and member states to impose new sanctions on companies or individuals found to be in violation, Nikkei Asia notes. Moreover, the report emphasized that approximately 40% of the funds for developing weapons of mass destruction were obtained through cyber attacks. Recent targets of these operations have included defense-related companies, and there has been increased sharing of infrastructure and tools between hackers affiliated with North Korea’s main foreign intelligence agency, the Reconnaissance General Bureau.
Despite economic sanctions in place to curb the flow of funds to North Korea and regulate imports and exports, it is clear that North Korea-linked cybercriminals continue to target the cryptocurrency market.
In 2023 alone, hackers linked to North Korea stole an estimated $430 million from decentralized finance (defi), while also stealing centralized services, exchanges and wallet providers, according to data from blockchain forensics company Chainalytic. It was targeted. The US-based company said hacking groups Kimsuky and Lazarus Group have deployed 20 successful attacks against various platforms, generating approximately $1 billion worth of cryptocurrency in 2023, which is less money stolen than in 2022. It was said that this decreased by 41.7%.
“While the total amount stolen from cryptocurrency platforms in 2023 has decreased significantly compared to previous years, it is clear that attackers are becoming increasingly sophisticated and diverse in their attack methods.” chain analysis
Last year, hackers only stole $1.1 billion in smart contracts, meaning the total value stolen from decentralized finance was down 63.7% year-on-year. Experts attribute this decline to the enhanced security measures implemented in DeFi protocols.