North Korean hackers stole £300m in cryptocurrency last year, new report finds
The Independent|January 15, 2022
North Korean hackers stole about £300m in cryptocurrency in 2021, making it one of their most lucrative years on record, a new report has suggested.
RORY SULLIVAN
North Korean hackers stole £300m in cryptocurrency last year, new report finds

Blockchain analysis company Chainalysis said it is likely that the Lazarus Group, an infamous state-sponsored cybercrime unit, was behind most of the seven digital attacks, three more than the total number identified over the preceding 12 months. The country generated 40 per cent more money from hacking last year than it did in 2020, according to the report by Chainalysis.

“Once North Korea gained custody of the funds, they began a careful laundering process to cover up and cash out,” its report said.

Although the firm did not name all the organisations targeted by Pyongyang, it found that the majority were investment firms and exchanges, including the cryptocurrency trading platform Liquid.com.

Researchers at Chainalysis also discovered £125m in unlaundered digital currency that had been stolen by the hackers from 2017 to 2021. The report said that North Korea might be keeping these funds to buy themselves time while trying to outfox law agencies.

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