A Reuters report acquired from the United Nations seems to suggest rather disturbing evidence of North Korea meddling in the crypto affairs in order to bypass international sanctions imposed on the country. Local hackers are said to have stolen more cryptocurrencies in 2022 than any other year prior.
The UN disclosed that the criminals managed to steal no less than $630 million and no more than $1 billion last year, focusing on industry networks that had to do with global aerospace and defense.
The report states that the country “utilized more sophisticated cyber tactics to obtain access to digital networks involved in cyberbanking and to steal information of potential value, including for its weapons programs.”
Sanctions monitors further state that the majority of the attacks have been orchestrated by the country’s Reconnaissance General Bureau, which poses as Noth Korea’s primary intelligence body. The institution is said to have been tasking the country’s most prominent hackers, such as The Kimsuky, Lazarus, and Andariel, among others.
It has also been confirmed that the hackers made use of such malware as, for example, phishing, targeting both public and private sectors in multiple countries.
The Chainalysis report from last week seems to confirm the information, however, the blockchain data platform suggests a much higher number of stole funds, reaching a staggering $1.7 Billion. This figure quadruples when compared to the previous year when the country’s hackers were said to have stolen $430 million.
All in all, the number of funds stolen in crypto throughout last year, which totals $3.8 Billion worldwide, confirms that 2022 has proven to be the worst year in cybercrime history yet. With the current rate, it is also estimated that cybercrime shall amount to $11 trillion stolen yearly by 2025.
