North Korea uses two main types of cyber attacks: hacking and ransomware. Elliptic’s analysis mainly revealed hacking attacks – theft directly from cryptocurrency exchanges.
North Korea has focused its efforts on direct attacks on exchanges, as one successful hack could bring in a huge amount of crypto assets, analysts say.
According to Elliptic, between 2017 and the end of 2022, North Korea stole a total of $2.3 billion in cryptocurrency across the planet.
Japan accounts for the largest portion, followed by Vietnam ($540 million), the United States ($497 million) and Hong Kong ($281 million).
Hackers are targeting Japan and Vietnam because local cryptocurrency markets are expanding rapidly and the security of many operators is weak.
According to a person familiar with the situation, at least three Japanese cryptocurrency exchanges were hacked by North Korean hackers between 2018 and 2021;
North Korean hackers have long been active in the cryptosphere – hacking protocols and stealing digital assets.
In February, the United Nations presented a report to the North Korea Sanctions Committee showing that North Korean hackers stole more crypto-assets in 2022 than in any other year.