Cryptocurrency Theft Remains Top Source of Income for North Korea, UN Report Says

Cyberattacks on cryptocurrency exchanges were a major source of funds for North Korea last year, a United Nations report has revealed. According to the document, the sanctioned nation has also developed its nuclear and missile programs.

North Korea hits cryptocurrency exchanges, sanctions monitors say

hacker controlled by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea ( DPRK ) have continued to target financial institutions and crypto platforms such as exchanges, Reuters reported, citing a confidential UN report. Its annual edition, prepared by independent sanctions monitors and presented to the Security Council North Korea Sanctions Committee on Friday, said:

Cyberattacks, particularly on cryptocurrency assets, remain an important source of revenue [for DPRK].

The report goes on to say that, according to one member state, “DPRK cyber actors stole more than $50 million from at least three cryptocurrency exchanges in North America, Europe and Asia between 2020 and mid-2021.”

The monitors also cite a recent estimate from Chainalysis revealed that the Pyongyang regime launched no fewer than seven attacks on crypto companies in 2021, resulting in the theft of nearly $400 million in digital assets. “These attacks primarily targeted securities firms and centralized exchanges,” the blockchain analytics firm said in January.

Back in 2019, UN sanctions monitors announced that North Korea had amassed an estimated $2 billion through increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks. The digital money was allegedly used to finance its weapons of mass destruction programs. Their latest report states:

Although no nuclear tests or intercontinental ballistic missile launches were reported, the DPRK continued to expand its capacity to produce fissile nuclear material.

The authors are convinced that the maintenance and development of North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile infrastructure has not stopped. They also point out that the country, which has been under UN sanctions since 2006, has accelerated its ballistic missile tests after conducting nine launches in January, the largest monthly number to date.

Do you think North Korean hackers will continue to carry out cyberattacks on cryptocurrency exchanges? Let us know in the comments section below.

Lubomir Tassev

Lubomir Tassev is a journalist from tech-savvy Eastern Europe who likes Hitchens' quote: "Being a writer is what I am, not what I do." In addition to crypto, blockchain and fintech, international politics and economics are two other sources of inspiration.

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