A recent UN report highlights North Korea's significant role in cyberattacks, particularly targeting cryptocurrency companies amid sanctions enforcement and nuclear concerns.
The United Nations Security Council issued a new report, pointing to North Korea's escalating involvement in cyberattacks, which now account for nearly half of its foreign exchange earnings, the Nikkei Asia reported. Although investigations are still ongoing, the report indicates that North Korea has already generated around $3 billion thanks to a lack of security measures at cryptocurrency-related entities such as protocols and companies.
Although the report lacks legal compliance, it may prompt the Security Council and member states to impose new sanctions on entities or individuals found to be violating the agreement, Nikkei Asia notes. Moreover, the report confirmed that about 40% of the funds allocated to develop weapons of mass destruction were obtained through cyberattacks. Recent targets of these operations have included defense-related companies, with an increase in the sharing of infrastructure and tools between hackers linked to the General Reconnaissance Office, a major foreign intelligence service in North Korea.
Despite the implementation of economic sanctions aimed at reducing financial flows into North Korea and regulating imports and exports, it is clear that state-affiliated cybercriminals continue to target the cryptocurrency market.
In 2023 alone, North Korea-linked hackers stole nearly $430 million from decentralized finance (defi) and also targeted centralized services, exchanges and wallet providers, according to data from blockchain forensics firm Chainalys. The US-based company noted that the Kimsuky and Lazarus Group hacking groups deployed 20 successful attacks against various platforms, leading to about $1 billion worth of cryptocurrencies in 2023, a 41.7% decrease in terms of funds stolen compared to 2017. 2022.
“Although the total amount stolen from cryptocurrency platforms in 2023 is down significantly from previous years, it is clear that attackers have become more sophisticated and diverse in their exploits.” Sequential analysis
Last year, hackers were able to steal just $1.1 billion worth of smart contracts, indicating a 63.7% year-on-year decline in the total value stolen from DeFi, with experts attributing this decline to enhanced security measures implemented in challenge protocols.
