If you've experienced a crypto-jacking from an online exchange in the past twelve months, there's a decent chance your cyber cash may have been the victim of a North Korean hack. That's according to a report from blockchain analysis company Chainalysis, which says that a massive $1.3 billion worth of stolen internet funny money this year can be attributed to the actions of state-sponsored North Korean hackers.
"In 2023, North Korea-affiliated hackers stole approximately $660.50 million across 20 incidents; in 2024, this number increased to $1.34 billion stolen across 47 incidents—a 102.88% increase in value stolen" says the report (via Bleeping Computer).
A number of large scale hacks are primarily to blame, according to the report, although small scale attacks appear to also be on the rise.
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Notable high-profile incidents in 2024 attributed to North Korean-sponsored hackers include a $50 million heist of Radiant Capital, "a cryptocurrency that operates on an omnichain money market, aiming to consolidate fragmented liquidity across various blockchain protocols."
Yep. Anyway, Chainalysis says that while the number of crypto thefts overall is the highest its ever been this year, with 303 major incidents reported, 2022 still remains supreme when it comes to most money stolen, with a staggering $3.7 billion in crypto estimated to have been lost.
Regardless, that $1.3 billion figure accounts for 61% of the $2.2 billion total of funds stolen from crypto platforms in 2024, according to the report.
Most of the incidents were said to occur between January and July, when 72% of the total yearly value was pilfered. The analysts noted that DPRK-associated hackers conducted more frequent attacks than average over the year as a whole, which may indicate more capacity to execute large-scale attacks than years previous.
Earlier this year, it was reported that CoinStats, a cryptocurrency portfolio management app with over 1.5 million users, suffered a security breach that compromised 1,590 crypto wallets. The attack was blamed on North Korean hackers, specifically the Lazarus hacking group, a shadowy organisation said to be made up of an unknown number of individuals allegedly working for the government of North Korea.
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The group has previously been blamed for multiple online crimes, including a $12 million cyber heist from the Bandcom Del Austro in Ecuador, and an attack on the Bangladesh Bank in which 35 fraudulent transactions were issued via the SWIFT network to transfer close to $1 billion in funds.
Only five of the transactions were successful, but it still amounted to $101 million being transferred to accounts traced to the Phillipines and Sri Lanka.
Still, it seems that groups like Lazerus are zeroing in on the once-again-booming cryptocurrency market. Is this the point where I remind you that crypto is still the wild west, and your money is better kept in... ah forget it. If the headline hasn't convinced you by now, not much else will. Happy holidays, everyone. Stay safe out there.
