On Tuesday (August 22), the FBI announced that cybercrime groups directly linked to the North Korean government had stolen $40 million worth of cryptocurrency in a single day.
The FBI tracked cryptocurrency stolen by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) TraderTraitor-affiliated actors (also known as Lazarus Group and APT38) over a 24-hour period and believes the DPRK may attempt to cash out the bitcoin worth more than $40 million dollars.
The DPRK TraderTraitor-affiliated actors have previously executed high-profile international cryptocurrency heists. These include the $60 million theft of virtual currency from Alphapo on June 22, 2023; the $37 million theft of virtual currency from CoinsPaid on June 22, 2023, and the $100 million theft of virtual currency from Atomic Wallet on June 2, 2023. Last year, the US authorities also blamed the group for a $620 million heist of Ethereum coin in March 2022 and the 2016 Bank of Bangladesh hack that saw the group make off with more than $80 million in stolen funds.
The FBI’s 24-hour investigation found the North-Korea-affiliated actors moved approximately 1,580 bitcoin from several cryptocurrency heists and were holding those funds in the bitcoin addresses: 3LU8wRu4ZnXP4UM8Yo6kkTiGHM9BubgyiG;39idqitN9tYNmq3wYanwg3MitFB5TZCjWu;3AAUBbKJorvNhEUFhKnep9YTwmZECxE4Nk;3PjNaSeP8GzLjGeu51JR19Q2Lu8W2Te9oc; 3NbdrezMzAVVfXv5MTQJn4hWqKhYCTCJoB; 34VXKa5upLWVYMXmgid6bFM4BaQXHxSUoL.
It has been known for some time that North Korea’s crumbling economy has forced it to rely on cybercrime and crypto-currency thefts to fund its ambitious military and nuclear programs. The proceeds from these illegal activities could be measured in billions. As long ago as 2021, North Korean hackers stole almost $400 million worth of digital assets in a 12-month period, according to blockchain analysis company Chainalysis.
As long ago as last year, Anne Neuberger, deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technology, said that the North Koreans “use cyber to gain, we estimate, up to a third of their funds to fund their missile program.” According to reports from the United Nations, North Korean hackers have stolen billions of dollars from banks and cryptocurrency firms over the last several years, providing a key source of revenue for the regime. US officials have long suspected that at least some of that money has been fuelling Pyongyang’s weapons development.
