North Korean Hackers Steal Over $300 Million in Cryptocurrencies

north korea, japan, united states - A group of North Korean hackers has stolen over $300 million in cryptocurrencies on the DMM Bitcoin platform.

According to the Japanese police, the group TraderTraitor is behind the theft, which is believed to be part of the Lazarus group linked to the North Korean regime.

Lazarus came into the spotlight in 2014 when it was accused of hacking Sony Pictures Entertainment in protest against the satirical film 'The Interview', which ridicules the North Korean regime.

The FBI reported a separate press release stating the theft of cryptocurrencies worth $308 million from the Japan-based company DMM by North Korean cyber actors.

American intelligence agencies described it as a 'targeted operation of social engineering,' where a hacker posed as a recruiter to contact an employee of another cryptoplatform. The hacker allegedly sent the employee a pre-employment test containing malicious code, enabling the hacker to impersonate the employee, according to the FBI.

'The FBI, the Japanese national police, and other partners of the U.S. government and the international community will continue to expose and combat illicit activities by North Korea, including cybercrime and cryptocurrency theft to generate revenue for the regime,' the press release stated.

North Korea's cyber warfare program is believed to have existed since the mid-1990s. According to a 2020 U.S. military report, 'Bureau 121,' the North Korean cyber warfare unit, consists of 6,000 members who also operate from abroad, including countries like Belarus, China, India, Malaysia, and Russia.