According to a United Nations’ report published on Saturday by Reuters media outlets, North Korea continued with the development of its nuclear missile programs last year. The report revealed that cyberattacks on cryptocurrency exchanges were used as a main revenue source for Pyongyang's nuclear and ballistic missile programme. North Korea’s cyberattacks targeted at least three cryptocurrency exchanges in Asia, Europe and North America, the report disclosed. According to the UN, cyberattackers based in North Korea stole more than $50 million (£37m) of digital assets between 2020 and mid-2021.
In 2019, the UN reported that North Korea used sophisticated cyberattacks to collect approximately $2 billion for its weapons of mass destruction programmes.
Since 2006, the UN Security Council banned North Korea from conducting nuclear tests and launching ballistic missiles. However, the UN report stated that despite such sanctions, North Korea has been able to continue creating and developing its nuclear and ballistic missile infrastructure. In addition, the country has continued seeking technology, material and expertise abroad, including through joint scientific research and cyber means. Moreover, the UN report disclosed that Pyongyang has been continuing to accelerate its missile testing. The US stated on Friday that North Korea conducted nine missile tests last month alone.
Additionally, the UN report referenced a study published last month by Chainalysis, a blockchain data and analysis company, that North Korean cyberattacks could have pocketed as much as $400 million worth of digital assets last year.
North Korea’s Internet Tool
North Korea has demonstrated significant growth in the sophistication and success of its cyberattacks, ranging from hacking crypto exchanges and government websites to crippling global financial networks and national healthcare services. Most of such hacks involve email phishing campaigns that target untrained employees as well as vulnerabilities in companies’ network’s operating systems. Furthermore, the hackers normally swap the crypto tokens for Ether on decentralized exchanges and then send them to mixers to hide their transactional history and deposit them on Asia-based crypto exchanges to cash out. North Korea’s involvement in cybercrimes is something that has been known for a while. In the past, the UN has highlighted several times the regime’s role in crypto crimes. However, North Korea continues to maintain its innocence and has denied such allegations.
