According to a classified United Nations report, North Koreans stole more cryptocurrency in 2022 than in any previous year. According to the report, Korean criminals targeted overseas aerospace networks, cyber finance, and military industries, employing increasingly sophisticated cyber strategies to access potentially valuable information.
Unbiased sanction screens quoted two figures of the estimated stolen funds when reporting to the UN Safety Council committee. South Korean officials estimated that North Korean-linked hackers stole $630 million in digital assets in 2022. Nonetheless, a cybersecurity firm confirmed that North Korean cybercrime stole cryptocurrencies worth more than $1 billion.
According to the report, “the fluctuation in the USD worth of cryptocurrency in recent months is more likely to have influenced these estimates, but each present that 2022 was a record-breaking year for DPRK (North Korea) digital asset theft.”
Furthermore, the observers claimed that the Reconnaissance Common Company, North Korea’s central intelligence agency, was responsible for most cyber attacks. It mentioned hacker teams Kimsuky, Lazarus Group, and Andariel, all of which are associated with the cybersecurity sector.
Chainalysis, a market intelligence firm, reported last month that crypto criminals will earn significantly less from ransomware operations in 2022 as more victims refuse to pay. According to the agency, ransomware attackers only extorted $456 million from victims last year after stealing nearly twice that amount the previous year.
According to Chainalysis, a drop in income does not imply a drop in ransomware attacks. Instead, according to Fortinet, a cybersecurity firm, the exploit exploded in 2022, with over 10,000 distinct ransomware strains operating within the year’s first half.
