UN Report: Crypto Crime Provided North Korea up to Half of Its Foreign Currency

[sirty143]

UN Report: Crypto Crime Provided North Korea up to Half of Its Foreign Currency Income

A report issued by a United Nations panel of experts has concluded that cyber crypto heists have provided 50% of the foreign currency income for North Korea since 2017. The report indicated that North Korean actors have been linked to 17 theft and hack events involving over $750 million in 2023 alone... See more for yourself here.

Your opinion is greatly appreciated.

[SamReomo]

The UN report is right about the North Korean hackers. Most of the North Korean hackers find it as hobby to hack crypto users and exchanges because no one is there to stop them. $750M is not a small amount and it can't be done without support from a government.

The North Korean government doesn't take any actions against those thefts and that's why the malicious actors get more courage to do such crimes. When government support is in your back and criminals get rewarded then in a country like that everyone will try to follow the same path.

[Stompix]

The UN report is right about the North Korean hackers. Most of the North Korean hackers find it as hobby to hack crypto users and exchanges because no one is there to stop them. $750M is not a small amount and it can't be done without support from a government.
The North Korean government doesn't take any actions against those thefts and that's why the malicious actors get more courage to do such crimes. When government support is in your back and criminals get rewarded then in a country like that everyone will try to follow the same path.

It's not a hobby!
It's a state operation, all the hacking is on the orders of the government, all the hackers are employed by the government, their moves are also tracked, and they don't make one penny from their hacks, all goes to the government.
You can't be a hacker in NK without the government knowing it, as you won't have internet, you will have an intranet, named Kwangmyong, and is not possible to access anything outside it (from the world internet through it), and it only officials have access to the real deal.

So all those cases of stolen cryptos are actions supervised and controlled by the NK government itself, not some rogue hackers who if they would try such a thing in NK would get 100 bullets in their head the next day without a trial.

[SamReomo]

~Snip~
So all those cases of stolen cryptos are actions supervised and controlled by the NK government itself, not some rogue hackers who if they would try such a thing in NK would get 100 bullets in their head the next day without a trial.

I believe whatever you said is 100% true but still the NK government pretends that they don't know much about such hacks and they have no involvement with the hacks and the hackers. That's a master plan by a government to earn the revenue, the dictator knows that it would be hard for other governments and crypto users to take any actions against them and that's why they are doing such hacking without any fear from other countries.

[yhiaali3]

The North Korean group Lazarus, which is considered one of the most dangerous hacking groups, was all accused of the thefts.

But if this group lives in a tyrannical, dictatorial state outside international law, how can they be stopped? Of course, everyone knows, as @Stompix pointed out, that in Korea no one is allowed to use the Internet without the knowledge of Korean officials, and therefore practically the Korean government itself is involved, but there is no way to stop it since its crazy ruler does not fear anyone and threatens to use his nuclear weapons!!!

[Jating]

The UN report is right about the North Korean hackers. Most of the North Korean hackers find it as hobby to hack crypto users and exchanges because no one is there to stop them. $750M is not a small amount and it can't be done without support from a government.

The North Korean government doesn't take any actions against those thefts and that's why the malicious actors get more courage to do such crimes. When government support is in your back and criminals get rewarded then in a country like that everyone will try to follow the same path.

I wouldn't call it a hobby as it is a state sponsored hack, US call them the Lazarus group and then with that group, there are maybe some groups as well. It's a hobby if they are a group of hackers, but we all know that North Koreans doesn't have the luxury to even own a laptop or PC. And it is the number 1 money making for them, it's like a machine that gave the government money and perhaps it's due to the West embargo on them that the leader of the NK will have to find a way and reinvent themselves and now they are really doing good at hacking at anyone they want, specially their counterparts crypto exchanges.

[hugeblack]

I question the accuracy of these reports, in addition to their lack of sensitivity to numbers. The report stated that the amount is $750 million in 2023, which represents 50% of the foreign currency income for North Korea, meaning that the total foreign currency is $1.5 billion, which is a modest amount for any country in the world even If it were North Korea.

[TomPluz]

The North Korean government doesn't take any actions against those thefts and that's why the malicious actors get more courage to do such crimes. When government support is in your back and criminals get rewarded then in a country like that everyone will try to follow the same path.

Of course, the North Korean government will not be doing anything with this multi-billion dollar enterprise all because it is in fact the sponsor of it...and I am sure that hackers are under the command of the government and it is either they produce successful hacks or they will be sent somewhere else for involuntary labor-based punishment. We can even say that the cryptocurrency industry is indirectly a big blessing to this hermit kingdom as it allows them to have a new lifeline for its struggling economy and to fund its ambitious military power. What is unfortunate is that there seems to be no effective way to control the intrusion coming from North Korean hackers...and I believe they must be highly intelligent and highly trained too even better than those people/firms providing security technology.

[Stompix]

~Snip~
So all those cases of stolen cryptos are actions supervised and controlled by the NK government itself, not some rogue hackers who if they would try such a thing in NK would get 100 bullets in their head the next day without a trial.

I believe whatever you said is 100% true but still the NK government pretends that they don't know much about such hacks and they have no involvement with the hacks and the hackers.

Now for real, what government of what country would admit to doing so?
Of course they will deny it, I just think of the faces of all the diplomats if suddenly NK would say, yeah, we hack and steal and that's how we get money, everyone would look at them like they have been thunderstruck.

I question the accuracy of these reports, in addition to their lack of sensitivity to numbers. The report stated that the amount is $750 million in 2023, which represents 50% of the foreign currency income for North Korea, meaning that the total foreign currency is $1.5 billion, which is a modest amount for any country in the world even If it were North Korea.

NK has an approximate GDP between 15 to 30 billion, close to impossible to really estimate since they don't publish even one number of their economy and the currency is heavily controlled, if we get those numbers to average government spending in CIS states, so the same semi dictatorial system they would have somewhere close to 2-3 billion in direct government spending without wages, that would put the amount they make from the hacks at 10% of their needs and approximately 80% of their trade balance deficit.
NK is poor, very poor!

[SamReomo]

Now for real, what government of what country would admit to doing so?

None, because any government if say that directly then that could impact them very adversely. I believe NK will also continue playing the game of hacking in background, and when someone asks them about it then they will continue denying it. I'm sure they might be putting so much efforts in hacking because that's a source of income for the country.