Report: NKorea Hackers Steal Crypto Millions for Nukes

CNBC reported that hackers from North Korea allegedly stole some $200 million in cryptocurrency to fund the rogue nation's nuclear weapons programs.

According to the report, the North Korean-affiliated hackers stole some $200 million in crypto from January to August, accounting for 20% of the year's total stolen cryptocurrency.

The report cited the blockchain intelligence company TRM, which said in March that crypto thefts mirror increases in the funding of nuclear weapons programs in North Korea.

According to the company, "TRM Labs provides blockchain intelligence to help financial institutions, cryptocurrency businesses, and public agencies detect, investigate and mitigate crypto-related fraud and financial crime."

"In recent years, there has been a marked rise in the size and scale of cyber-attacks against cryptocurrency-related businesses by North Korea," TRM said in a June press release. "This has coincided with an apparent acceleration in the country's nuclear and ballistic missile programs. In addition, there has been a pivot away from North Korea's traditional revenue-generating activities, indicating that the regime is increasingly turning to cyber-attacks to fund its weapons proliferation activity."

The firm estimated the DPRK hackers stole a total that possibly topped $3 billion in 30 attacks in the past five years.

"North Korea exploits vulnerabilities in the crypto ecosystem in a variety of ways including through phishing and supply chain attacks, and through infrastructure hacks which involve private key or seed phrase compromises," the company said in the release. "These types of attacks are often enabled by conventional cyber operations and allow the attackers to seize and transfer the cryptocurrency to wallets they control."

The FBI warned cryptocurrency companies last month about recent blockchain activity by the North Korean-related groups APT38 and the Lazarus Group representing an estimated theft of around $40 million in bitcoins.

According to the FBI, the groups are also responsible for the June theft of $60 million from the crypto payment provider Alphapo, as well as $37 million taken from CoinsPaid on June 22, and $100 million stolen from Atomic Wallet on June 2.

"Private sector entities should examine the blockchain data associated with these addresses and be vigilant in guarding against transactions directly with, or derived from, the addresses," the agency said in its release. "The FBI will continue to expose and combat the DPRK's use of illicit activities — including cybercrime and virtual currency theft — to generate revenue for the regime."