Last Year's Crypto Thefts on North Korean Hacks Set a Record at $3.8 Billion.

By CoinUnited.io Research Team

6 Feb 2023

2 min read

As sanctions on North Korea led to an increase in alleged hacking by the Asian nation, thieves stole a record $3.8 billion worth of cryptocurrency in 2022.

According to a research by blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis Inc. published on Wednesday, total crypto losses jumped from $3.3 billion lost in 2021. According to the company, hackers with ties to the North Korean government stole an estimated $1.7 billion in 2022, up from the $400 million they made off with the previous year.

U.S. authorities have reported that in response to international sanctions, North Korean hackers have expanded their emphasis on the cryptocurrency sector as a method to collect income. Researchers have discovered that fraudsters have used a range of methods to get money, including passing themselves off as people from other countries in job interviews and using ransomware. According to Anne Neuberger, US Deputy National Security Advisor for Cyber and Emerging Technology, almost a third of the money for North Korea's weapons development programs comes from hacking.

The $100 million robbery at the Harmony Bridge crypto service in June of last year was attributed by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation to two North Korean cybercrime gangs. US officials claim that in March, the Lazarus Group, a specialist hacking outfit previously linked by the FBI to North Korea's Reconnaissance General Bureau, stole about $600 million from a blockchain network related to the popular video game Axie Infinity.

In what Chainalysis called the first-ever seizure of monies taken by hackers with ties to North Korea, investigators subsequently announced they had recovered almost $30 million that had been lost in the Axie Infinity incident.

Chainalysis said that while "North Korea-linked hackers are clearly adept and constitute a substantial danger to the cryptocurrency ecosystem," the capacity of law enforcement and national security agencies to strike back is increasing. According to the authors, "we predict more such stories in the future years, partly due to the transparency of the blockchain," in light of the Axie Infinity turnaround. It was noted in the research that suspected North Korean groups frequently used mixing services, which enable users to conceal the true nature of their cryptocurrency transactions, to clean and resell their loot. Until the US Treasury Department approved the service in August, the hackers almost exclusively utilized Tornado Cash to launder digital money.

According to Chainalysis, decentralized finance, or DeFi, protocols were the source of $3.1 billion in cryptocurrency theft in 2018. With a special emphasis on bridge services, attackers exploited difficult-to-find digital flaws in the DeFi infrastructure supporting crypto initiatives. Cross-chain bridges, which let users to exchange one cryptocurrency for another, were responsible for 64% of the $3.1 billion stolen from DeFi services, according to Chainalysis.

U.S. authorities have reported that in response to international sanctions, North Korean hackers have expanded their emphasis on the cryptocurrency sector as a method to collect income. Researchers have discovered that fraudsters have used a range of methods to get money, including passing themselves off as people from other countries in job interviews and using ransomware. According to Anne Neuberger, US Deputy National Security Advisor for Cyber and Emerging Technology, almost a third of the money for North Korea's weapons development programs comes from hacking.

The $100 million robbery at the Harmony Bridge crypto service in June of last year was attributed by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation to two North Korean cybercrime gangs. US officials claim that in March, the Lazarus Group, a specialist hacking outfit previously linked by the FBI to North Korea's Reconnaissance General Bureau, stole about $600 million from a blockchain network related to the popular video game Axie Infinity.

In what Chainalysis called the first-ever seizure of monies taken by hackers with ties to North Korea, investigators subsequently announced they had recovered almost $30 million that had been lost in the Axie Infinity incident.

Chainalysis said that while "North Korea-linked hackers are clearly adept and constitute a substantial danger to the cryptocurrency ecosystem," the capacity of law enforcement and national security agencies to strike back is increasing. According to the authors, "we predict more such stories in the future years, partly due to the transparency of the blockchain," in light of the Axie Infinity turnaround. It was noted in the research that suspected North Korean groups frequently used mixing services, which enable users to conceal the true nature of their cryptocurrency transactions, to clean and resell their loot. Until the US Treasury Department approved the service in August, the hackers almost exclusively utilized Tornado Cash to launder digital money.

According to Chainalysis, decentralized finance, or DeFi, protocols were the source of $3.1 billion in cryptocurrency theft in 2018. With a special emphasis on bridge services, attackers exploited difficult-to-find digital flaws in the DeFi infrastructure supporting crypto initiatives. Cross-chain bridges, which enable users to change one cryptocurrency into another, were responsible for 64% of the $3.1 billion in theft from DeFi services, according to Chainalysis.

Latest Crypto Trading Articles & Market Insights

See All Articles