According to recent sources, it would appear that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) has amassed quite a bit of cryptocurrency as of late. Experts testifying in front of the U.N. Security Council recently detailed the elaborate moves that North Korea has made in order to accumulate about $670 million worth of Bitcoin and Ethereum. First, they’ve executed several successful cyberattacks, plundering exchanges to stack their fortune. Using blockchain technology to then obscure the manner in which they obtained the funds, the group seems to be highly savvy when it comes to obfuscation.
For those who are troubled by North Korea’s nuclear threat, this is indeed an unsavory development. Based on the research that has been completed thus far, it seems as though the sophisticated hackers started their efforts in earnest around 2016. Experts suspect, based on the evidence, that the hacker group started out as a small branch of the North Korean military. Now that it’s been so successful at executing attacks and racking up crypto, the hacker group has gained steam and is considered an integral part of North Korea’s actual government strategy.
One of the many platforms targeted by North Korea was Interpark, a successful South Korean site. Compromising the information of over 10 million users, the North Korean hackers then demanded $2.7 million. In the midst of this growing threat, security experts have implored nations to shore up their cybersecurity. For big financial institutions and other businesses that maintain a lot of data on their customers, there is no such thing as too much cybersecurity these days—especially when considering the threat that they are up against.
For cryptocurrency exchanges, remaining vigilant will also be key. Any exchange should assume that they are subject to being compromised at any time. In this increasingly hostile global climate, crypto that falls into the wrong hands could be used and abused. Of course, this recent development has only fueled the fire of those who are against crypto. In the coming weeks and months, the mainstream media needs to stay focused on highlighting the ways in which North Korea can be prevented from stealing more cryptocurrency.
