Bitcoin News and Finance UN Report: North Korea Stockpiles $316 Million in Cryptocurrencies From Cyberattacks Skip to main content

UN Report: North Korea Stockpiles $316 Million in Cryptocurrencies From Cyberattacks

UN Report: North Korea Stockpiles $316 Million in Cryptocurrencies From Cyberattacks

A panel of experts at the United Nations says that North Korea has amassed $316 million in cryptocurrencies from various cyberattacks on crypto exchanges and financial institutions. The panel also investigated North Korea’s involvement in the $281 million hack of a crypto exchange.

UN Expert Panel Sheds Light on North Korea’s Cyberattack Activities

A United Nations panel of experts has submitted a draft report reviewing the measures on North Korea to the Security Council’s North Korea Sanctions Committee. Nikkei says it has obtained a copy of the document, noting that it will be made public after discussion and revisions by the council’s board member nations.

The report highlights that North Korea’s “total theft of virtual assets from 2019 to November 2020 is valued at approximately $316.4 million,” citing one unidentified country. North Korea allegedly uses cyberattacks against financial institutions and crypto exchanges to generate money to support its weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs, according to the report.

Moreover, the panel revealed that it investigated malicious activities by North Korea’s primary intelligence agency called the Reconnaissance General Bureau, an entity on the U.N. sanctions blacklist. Its activities include “the targeting of virtual assets and virtual asset service providers, and attacks on defense companies.”

“Preliminary analysis, based on the attack vectors and subsequent efforts to launder the illicit proceeds strongly suggests links to the DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea],” the U.N. experts said.

In addition, the panel said it is investigating a September 2020 hack against a cryptocurrency exchange during which approximately $281 million worth of cryptocurrencies were stolen. Blockchain data analysis indicates that this hack is related to a second hack in October 2020 where $23 million were stolen. The $281 million hack is believed to be that of cryptocurrency exchange Kucoin.

The report further outlines how North Korea continues to launder stolen cryptocurrencies by exchanging them for fiat currencies, like the U.S. dollar, via over-the-counter (OTC) brokers in China.

In its previous report, the U.N. panel found that North Korea amassed $571 million from hacking crypto exchanges and companies between January 2017 and October 2018.

What do you think about the findings by the U.N. expert panel about North Korea and cryptocurrencies? Let us know in the comments section below.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Custodial Lightning Network Service Attack Discovered by LN ‘Newbie’ — Hacker Strikes 6 LN Custodians

On September 18, a Redditor posted to the r/bitcoin forum and explained how he discovered a way to “attack [the] lightning Network’s custodial services.” The Reddit account dubbed “Reckless Satoshi” wanted to figure out if a “discrepancy between real routing fees and service’s transaction fee can be exploited for a profit.” The researcher disclosed that he wanted to see how large the damage could be and said “it is bad.” 6 Lightning Network Custodial Services Attacked, Researcher Discloses Findings to Offenders Prior to Public Disclosure A Redditor called Reckless Satoshi published a disclosure post on r/bitcoin this past Saturday and disclosed how he had found a vulnerability with routing fees and some of the Lightning Network’s custodial services. The research attack was done in good faith and after it was complete he disclosed the bugs to the offending services before publishing his findings. Reckless Satoshi used the Lightning Network (LN) attack on six different services incl...

Axie Infinity Down 40% Since Last Week’s Price High, Protocol Revenue Outshines Competitors

Last week, the game token leveraged within the Axie Infinity gaming universe skyrocketed to all-time highs, while other crypto markets remained extremely lackluster. During the last seven days, Axie Infinity’s platform token has dropped significantly in value shedding more than 12%. Meanwhile, the game platform’s smooth love potion token has slid over 8% over the last 24 hours. Axie Infinity Down More Than 40% Since All-Time High Not too long ago, the axie infinity (AXS) token was a topical conversation because it reached an all-time high on July 15. At the time, AXS managed to capture $28.93 per unit and since then it has shed 12.8% during the last seven days. The axie infinity (AXS) token is used within the blockchain-based game that involves battles between token-based creatures called “Axies.” AXS is used for the game’s governance system as well as other actions within the game. At the time of writing axie infinity (AXS) is exchanging hands for $16.70 per coin. AXS/USD on Ju...

Play-to-Earn Game From Polker (PKR) Exchange Listing – Endorsed by Akon

The Play-to-Earn NFT based Polker.Game ‘s native token $PKR has been officially listed on the popular centralized exchange BitMart. Polker.game has been in the spotlight recently as Akon, the American R&B superstar and record producer gave his official endorsement of polker stating that the “game is revolutionary” and that Polker is “hands down.. the best play to earn, NFT game in the space.”. With the BitMart listing and celebrity endorsement from Akon, Polker is perfectly positioned to become a major player in the Play-to-Earn league. Watch Akon’s Video Here What is Play-to-Earn? Although not a new concept, play-to-earn has become a trending term due to the popularity of the NFT game AXIE infinity. In the past, previous play-to-earn games have also achieved success – however, thanks to the huge amount of development in the blockchain space in recent years the gaming experience is now massively improved. Play-to-Earn games are essentially free to play and open to anyone and...

China to Crack Down on Copyright Infringement Through NFTs

Authorities in China are going after creators of digital collectibles based on other people’s works of art, the use of which was not authorized. The government offensive is part of a campaign to combat online copyright infringement and piracy with the participation of several departments. Regulators in China Move to Strengthen Copyright Supervision of Online Platforms The National Copyright Administration of China (NCAC) has recently launched a campaign against copyright infringement and piracy on the internet, together with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Public Security, and the State Internet Information Office of the People’s Republic. A major objective of the initiative is to improve copyright supervision of online businesses by investigating cases involving the sale and distribution of infringing products on short video, live broadcast and e-commerce platforms, and promptly dealing with infringing content, the agency announced in a press r...
Blogarama - Blog Directory