Tuesday, October 7, 2025

"North Korean hackers increasingly targeting wealthy crypto holders"

At least, because they can't get out of North Korea, the hackers aren't chopping off hands or their digits to access two-factor—in this case fingerprint—identification.

From the BBC, October 7:

Targeting high net worth crypto holders has helped North Korean hackers steal more than $2bn (£1.49bn) so far this year according to researchers.

The thefts are a record for the regime-linked hackers who now account for around 13% of North Korea's gross domestic product (GDP), according to United Nations' estimates.

For the last few years operatives from hacking teams like Lazarus Group have focussed on attacking cryptocurrency companies for large thefts of digital tokens.

But investigators at research firm Elliptic warn that crypto wealthy individuals have become increasingly attractive targets as they often lack the security measures employed by businesses.

Western security agencies say stolen funds are used to finance North Korea's nuclear weapons and missile development programs.

Dr Tom Robinson, chief scientist at Elliptic, says the targeting of individuals - which is less likely to be disclosed - means the true figure for hacks carried out by North Korea could be even higher.

"Other thefts are likely unreported and remain unknown as attributing cyber thefts to North Korea is not an exact science."....

....MUCH MORE