North Korea’s Major Crypto Heists Unveiled: $659 Million Stolen in 2024 Cyber Attacks
In a rare joint statement (PDF) released on Tuesday, Japan, South Korea, and the United States said that North Korean-backed hackers stole at least $659 million through various cryptocurrency heists in 2024 and also used IT staff to penetrate blockchain organizations as internal threats.
It was the first official confirmation that North Korea was responsible for the $235 million attack on India’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange, WazirX, in July. WazirX was forced to halt trading and subsequently restructure the company due to the July 2024 breach.
$374 Million Stolen in Multiple Crypto Heists Linked to North Korea’s Lazarus Group
A $308 million theft from Japan’s DMM Bitcoin, $50 million from Upbit and Radiant Capital, and $16.13 million from Rain Management were among the other significant attacks, the joint statement said. According to the statement, the Lazarus Group, a known threat group of North Korean hackers, broke into exchanges by using social engineering techniques and cryptocurrency-stealing malware like TraderTraitor. The group also infiltrated companies by having North Korean IT professionals pretend to be job applicants.
The United States, Japan, and the Republic of Korea advise private sector entities, particularly in blockchain and freelance work industries, to thoroughly review these advisories and announcements to better inform cyber threat mitigation measures and mitigate the risk of inadvertently hiring DPRK IT workers,
the governments
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