North Korean Cyber Attacks Are Plaguing the Crypto Industry

On Monday, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) issued an alert on North Korean cyber threats that are targeting blockchain companies after the Ronin Bridge hack that occurred last month.

The alert warned people and crypto companies, and also included a variety of precautions that can be used to ensure blockchain safety.

A few hacker groups were mentioned by name in this alert. These groups include Lazarus, APT38, BlueNoroff, and Stardust Chollima. All of these groups were classified as advanced persistent threats (APT).

These groups have been noted as targeting organizations in the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry which include decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols and play-to-earn games.

These hacker groups were able to walk away with around $400 million in 2021. This number has already been surpassed in 2022 after the Ronin Bridge hack where the criminals managed to steal $620 million. This just proves that something needs to be done about the cybercrime issues in the cryptocurrency space.

The CISA does not believe that this problem will be solved anytime soon and stated that “These actors will likely continue exploiting vulnerabilities of cryptocurrency technology firms, gaming companies, and exchanges to generate and launder funds to support the North Korean regime.”

These cyber-threats are believed to be caused by the severe sanctions placed on Kim Jong-un. These sanctions basically blocked all access to his cash flow which forced him to turn to crypto to fund nuclear weapons.

The CISA stated that although there are many mitigation strategies that could help with cybercrime issues, the best strategy is education and an awareness of the extent of the threat.