In response to a brand new report published by South Korea’s Nationwide Intelligence Service (NIS), North Korean hackers have stolen greater than 800 billion Korean gained ($620 million) value of cryptocurrencies from decentralized finance, or DeFi, platforms this 12 months. The company additionally revealed it blocked a day by day common of 1.18 million assaults perpetrated by nationwide and worldwide hacking organizations in November.
Nonetheless, a NIS spokesperson revealed through native information outlet Kyunghyang Shinmun that all the $620 million stolen by North Korean hackers by means of DeFi exploits occurred abroad, including:
“In Korea, digital asset transactions have been switched to real-name transactions and safety has been strengthened, so there isn’t a harm.”
In 2021, South Korea applied new Know Your Buyer cryptocurrency buying and selling guidelines requiring purchasers to create a real-name account with the identical financial institution as their cryptocurrency change to deposit or withdraw funds. Each the financial institution and the change are then required to confirm the shopper’s id. As well as, exchanges should acquire a license from the Monetary Companies Fee earlier than commencing operations.
North Korean hacker syndicates, resembling Lazarus Group, have been linked to quite a lot of high-profile DeFi breaches this 12 months, together with the $100 million Concord assault. Specialists stated that such assaults are a method of producing overseas forex reserves within the face of strict industrial sanctions imposed by the worldwide neighborhood. The NIS additionally warned that North Korean cyberattacks would intensify subsequent 12 months:
“It’s crucial to investigate assaults as intently as defenses. As a result of one hacker group has all of the assault info and doesn’t overlook it. It’s crucial to collect info associated to malicious code scattered by numerous attackers to search out significant insights.”
