North Korean hackers stole $721 million in cryptocurrency from Japan: Nikkei

Any ideas who they stole from ? Assuming exchanges ?

Why those naughty north Koreans! What will those lovable rascals get up to next?

Any ideas who they stole from ? Assuming exchanges ?

Pretty much any entity in the blockchain including exchanges, venture capital funds that invest in crypto currencies but also from individuals known to possess large amounts of crypto currency and interestingly from play to earn video games.

https://techcrunch.com/2022/04/19/north-korea-blockchain-crypto/

But... we have been told that "blockchain" is totally secure.

What happened?

But... we have been told that "blockchain" is totally secure. What happened?

Even blockchain can’t protect people if they call for phishing or rug pull scans.

Ack, wish we had an edit button so my pre-coffee typos could be fixed :-/

The amount is equal to 30% of the total of such losses globally, the Nikkei reported.

Doubtful that NK is the only country stealing this currency, and that Japan has been ripped off for a 1/3 of the world total. They may be the "leader" .

According to Elliptic, which conducted the analysis on behalf of the Japanese newspaper, North Korea has stolen a total of $2.3 billion in cryptocurrency from businesses between 2017 and 2022.

Yet numerous other sources are stating the total, during the end of the last fiscal year, is over $4 BILLION, nearly double what is being "reported" here.

They sure are good at stealing.

What will Kim and family use the money that they skim from the scanners for, is there even a snowball's chance the public will benefit beyond perhaps being able to watch a TV video of an expensive missile most likely financed by this scam and others being fired into the ocean? Cults of personality have long been shown to care nothing about that nation's general public. See Stalin and Mao, the two largely responsible for putting the Kims in charge of North Korea.

But... we have been told that "blockchain" is totally secure.

We're talking about Japan. There was widespread panic when Internet Explorer stopped getting support.

Digital security needs to advance at the same speeds as hackers. It's still a few years behind here. Maybe this will be an incentive, because that's a lot of money.

But... we have been told that "blockchain" is totally secure.

Well, try handing out your bank password and see what happens.

Wow Wow Wow, now we know how Robber little kim can keep his Hanabi rockets flying!?

we have been told that "blockchain" is totally secure.

The technology is secure. People are still idiots though, so they end up getting scammed.

Me and others have warned for years on this topic and at several crypto discussion boards. So neither that it happens nor the percentage of about 30% is a surprise. Anyway, the hunger for money is of course bigger, so also in the future many will with pleasure go into their traps. Now I could also tell who the other 70% ‘nice’ guys are, but I won’t. If you are invested, you won’t listen to warnings anyway, and if not, then you are just not affected.

Please watch ENDVER channel on you tube and you will see how hackers can almost get to any system.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afasmTJ5WCc

So in addition to not being backed by a national bank, being a poor store of wealth due to wild valuation fluctuations, not being a medium of exchange since one cannot buy anything with it, being run by scammers, and giving crooks another means with which to launder their ill-gotten funds, its not even secure.

What a wonderful idea that was....

If the North Koreans put 1/2 the effort into producing goods and services (besides WMD) that they put into stealing, I dare say they'd have many fewer starving people.

North Korean hackers stole $721 million in cryptocurrency from Japan: Nikkei

With their mid 90's, 3G INTRANET? Doubtful............

Pretty sure it was some inside jobs from the Japanese, just blaming it on NK.

Hacker groups affiliated with North Korea .....

North Korean hackers are not based in North Korea, I thought that that was well-known. Most are in a large country nearby.

Cool. Guess you aren’t as smart as you think you are, crypto dudes and dudettes?

If even the big brokerage houses can get clipped, there's a lot to worry about when using digital currency. Have to give North Korea credit though, they ARE that clever. They've been at it a long time and have stolen billions over the past decade alone. Maybe Japan and the West need to take that part of the threat a wee bit more seriously. No wonder many Japanese keep money in the house.

What is the chance of getting some, or all of the money back?

But... we have been told that "blockchain" is totally secure.

Uneducated on the topic, I guess.

Fatty, It was you !!!...

LOL !!..

Doh !

Probably not hard. The amount of work places I’ve seen in japan that outright refuse things like workers taking data or workstations home out of security concerns is nuts

But also, the crazy amount that just plain old use the default password for everything. That really blew my mind. Going into a completely different office/ building and just trying the basic password from a different place and having it work… IT company btw-eyeroll-

Last time they did this was in 2016.

And it was epic.

Explained: The story of how North Korea hackers stole $81 million from Bangladesh Bank

https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/bangladesh-bank-robbery-north-korea-lazarus-heist-7375441/

Wish I could be sympathetic, but people were stupid to buy into bitcoin to begin with. Team that with Japanese cyber-security, which makes Rudy Giuliani look like a genius, and of course this happens.

So now we know how the Tin-pot Dictator manages to create so many rockets and missiles, creaming-off $2.3 billion, with a bit of help from their extremely deceitful Chinese masters.

Little wonder he's happy to ensure the vast majority of the North Koreans remain at peasant-status, quietly starving to death...... whenever the revolution is going to start there, it can't come soon enough.

With their mid 90's, 3G INTRANET? Doubtful............

Pretty sure it was some inside jobs from the Japanese, just blaming it on NK.

Their Army, which is the organization doing the hacking, has access to the best equipment and the smartest students in North Korea. You are forgetting that not every nation bans the Norks and they send their promising students abroad to study engineering, computers and other subjects useful to the regime at well regarded foreign universities. Remember, His Corpulence and his Krypt Keeper lil sis are both Swiss educated.

What is the chance of getting some, or all of the money back?

The American FBI was actually able to steal some back immediately after one of their thefts in that brief period before they could lock it away behind a new crypto key. But that was a one-off deal where the FBI was tracking the action during a hack.

But... we have been told that "blockchain" is totally secure.

Uneducated on the topic, I guess.

Blockchain is one of the several tools law enforcement and intelligence agencies use to track stolen crypto currencies. Blockchain was never about security. It was always about visibility.

As long people, including the commentators here („I thought blockchain is secure…“), do not understand how technology works, this will happen

Yeah, I'm sure it was only the NKoreans and the ccp's cyber lapdogs weren't involved at all...

Bitcoin is fake currency,it has no recognize,no financial instruments to back up it value

AssMay 16  07:05 am JST

Why those naughty north Koreans! What will those lovable rascals get up to next?

Cyberhacking, it's a new kind of warfare. Hacking computers has stolen money, installed political puppets in power and has been used to disable the enemy by the US in wars in Kosovo and Libya. Russia did it to Ukraine last year but it didn't break the will of the Ukes to physically resist the Russian invaders.

Still, hacking is a major new nuisance, not to be dismissed lightly and this is more proof.

well we have learn that DPRK have no internet.

The regular people don't; the "chosen ones" do (a.k.a. chosen by the government)

But of course, their internet are all still monitored, and thus all hacking coming from DPRK are intentional and sanctioned by the government monitors

2022 was a banner year for crypto hackers, led by North Korea

"2022 Biggest Year Ever For Crypto Hacking with $3.8 Billion Stolen, Primarily from DeFi Protocols and by North Korea-linked Attackers"

https://blog.chainalysis.com/reports/2022-biggest-year-ever-for-crypto-hacking/

In last year’s Crypto Crime Report, we wrote about how decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols in 2021 became the primary target of crypto hackers. That trend intensified in 2022.

North Korea-linked hackers such as those in cybercriminal syndicate Lazarus Group have been by far the most prolific cryptocurrency hackers over the last few years. In 2022, they shattered their own records for theft, stealing an estimated $1.7 billion worth of cryptocurrency across several hacks we’ve attributed to them. For context, North Korea’s total exports in 2020 totalled $142 million worth of goods, so it isn’t a stretch to say that cryptocurrency hacking is a sizable chunk of the nation’s economy. Most experts agree the North Korean government is using these stolen to fund its nuclear weapons programs.

So the next time Chairman Kim whines about being persecuted, remind him how much money his hackers are stealing from people

Blockchain is one of the several tools law enforcement and intelligence agencies use to track stolen crypto currencies. Blockchain was never about security. It was always about visibility.

Say hello to my friend, Monero.

Probably like previous incidents, it's stolen from exchanges rather than scamming your average user. So I think claiming the victims had no idea what they were doing is a bit invalid.

Somewhat funny how with crypto it's possible to steal specifically your money.

Probably like previous incidents, it's stolen from exchanges rather than scamming your average user. So I think claiming the victims had no idea what they were doing is a bit invalid.

The well documented incidents include stealing from exchanges, but also from investment funds, banks, individuals known to possess large amounts of crypto currency (probably because they bragged on social media) and pay for play games.. There is no probably about it, the instances of crypto currency theft are documented.

There is a two series podcast on the BBC Sounds website called The Lazarus Heist, it’s all about North Korean hacking programmes, thefts and those who assist and enable them. It’s brilliant.