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North Korea hackers stealing millions in cryptocurrency, UN says

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North Korea hackers have stolen more than £37million worth of cryptocurrency to finance and develop its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes, UN experts have said in a new report.

 

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The annual report, by independent sanctions monitors, said there was ‘a marked acceleration’ of Pyongyang’s testing and demonstration of new short-range and possibly medium-range missiles in January, ‘incorporating both ballistic and guidance technologies and using both solid and liquid propellants’.

 

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Investigators found that cyberattacks stole more than £37million of digital assets between 2020 and mid-2021 from at least three cryptocurrency exchanges in North America, Europe, and Asia.

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Cyber attacks ‘remain an important revenue source’ for Kim Jong Un’s government and Pyongyang’s nuclear and ballistic missile programme, experts added.

 

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They also said North Korea ‘continued to seek material, technology, and know-how for these programmes overseas, including through cyber means and joint scientific research.’

 

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The report was sent to the U.N. Security Council North Korea sanctions committee on Friday.

 

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This comes following a report by blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis, which said North Korea launched at least seven attacks on cryptocurrency platforms that extracted nearly $400m worth of digital assets last year.

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The report, released last month, said: ‘From 2020 to 2021, the number of North Korean-linked hacks jumped from four to seven, and the value extracted from these hacks grew by 40 percent’.

 

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A 2019 United Nations report estimated that North Korea had already been able to spend at least $2 billion from the proceeds of cybercrime on weapons.

 

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Another UN report said North Korean hackers are now extending their money-making activities to stealing military secrets, which they can then sell.

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