North Korean hackers have stolen more than 800 billion Korean won ($620 million) worth of cryptocurrencies from DeFi platforms this year
A recent revelation from South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) claims that North Korean hackers have stolen bitcoins from decentralized finance, or DeFi, systems worth more than 800 billion Korean won ($620 million).
The organization also disclosed that in November, it stopped an average of 1.18 million attacks per day launched by domestic and foreign hacking groups.
Nevertheless, a NIS representative explained to the local news source Kyunghyang Shinmun that all of the $620 million stolen by North Korean hackers using DeFi exploits took place abroad, adding:
“In Korea, virtual asset transactions have been switched to real-name transactions and security has been strengthened, so there is no damage.”
New Know Your Customer regulations for cryptocurrency trading went into effect in South Korea in 2021, forcing customers to open real-name accounts with the same bank as their cryptocurrency exchange in order to deposit or withdraw money.
The client’s identity must then be confirmed by the bank and the exchange. Additionally, before starting operations, exchanges are required to seek a license from the Financial Services Commission.
The $100 million Harmony attack has been attributed to the hacking groups like Lazarus Group, which have been involved in a number of high-profile DeFi breaches this year.
Experts claimed that in the face of severe business sanctions imposed by the international community, such attacks are a technique of building foreign currency reserves. The NIS also issued a warning that North Korean cyberattacks would become more frequent in 2017:
“It is necessary to analyze attacks as closely as defenses. Because one hacker organization has all the attack information and does not forget it. It is necessary to gather information related to malicious code scattered by various attackers to find meaningful insights.”
