2022 was the year of all records for cryptocurrency theft. More than 3.8 billion dollars were indeed stolen, according to a report published on February 1 by the American blockchain analysis company Chainalysis. Far ahead of other nations, North Korean hackers took home $1.7 billion in loot, or 43% of the total value of cryptos stolen last year.
Chainalysis had counted, in 2021, 3.3 billion cryptos stolen worldwide, including 400 million by hackers in North Korea. The increase in thefts comes as the global cryptocurrency market suffered particularly significant declines in 2022. value of bitcoin, for example, has fallen by more than 60%).
If it is therefore much less profitable today to hack a token, this has not prevented North Korean hackers from further establishing their status as champions of digital cybercrime. According to data from Chainalysis, the country would have captured more than 3 billion dollars thanks to these hacks during the last five years. Western security agencies and cybersecurity firms consider it one of the top four state-owned cyber threats in the world, alongside China, Russia and Iran.
“For context, North Korea’s total exports in 2020 totaled $142 million worth of goods, so it’s no exaggeration to say that cryptocurrency hacking is a sizable part of the nation’s economy. “, writes Chainalysis. The American company points out that many experts agree that the North Korean government uses these stolen sums to finance its nuclear weapons programs.
The FBI has thus attributed to hackers linked to the North Korean government, members of the Lazarus group, the hacking of more than 600 million dollars from the Ronin network of the video game Axie Infinity in March, and that of 100 million dollars from the company. Harmony cryptocurrency in June. A confidential United Nations report, of which the Reuters agency was able to become aware at the beginning of Februarysupports the same conclusions.
“North Korea has used increasingly sophisticated computer techniques to gain access to digital networks involved in cyber finance and to steal potentially useful information, including for its weapons programs,” said UN experts responsible for to monitor the application of international sanctions during a committee of the United Nations Security Council, according to Reuters. According to them, the money collected by North Korea’s criminal cyber operations helps fund the country’s illicit missile and nuclear programs.
Last July, Anne Neuberger, United States Deputy National Security Advisor for Cybersecurity, said that Kim Jong-un’s regime, suffocated by the multiplication of international sanctions because of its repeated violations of international law, ” uses cybernetics to obtain, according to our estimates, up to a third of the funds intended for its missile program”, report it FinancialTimes.
However, the FBI managed to recover $30 million worth of cryptocurrencies stolen during the Axie Infinity hack. A first according to Chainalysis. Gradually, law enforcement and national security agencies are building their capacity to fight digital criminals. These efforts, combined with those of other agencies that crack down on money laundering techniques, “mean these hacks will become more difficult and less successful with each passing year,” the company said.
