North Korea Stole Millions in Cryptocurrency to Fund Its Missile Program, Says U...
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North Korea Stole Millions in Cryptocurrency to Fund Its Missile Program, Says UN Report
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North Korea funded its missile programs with millions of dollars in stolen cryptocurrency, reports the BBC, citing a new UN report:
Between 2020 and mid-2021 cyber-attackers stole more than $50m (£37m) of digital assets, investigators found. Such attacks are an "important revenue source" for Pyongyang's nuclear and ballistic missile programme, they said. The findings were reportedly handed to the UN's sanctions committee on Friday.
The cyber-attacks targeted at least three cryptocurrency exchanges in North America, Europe and Asia.
The report also referenced a study published last month by the security firm Chainalysis that suggested North Korean cyberattacks could have netted as much as $400m worth of digital assets last year. And in 2019, the UN reported that North Korea had accumulated an estimated $2bn for its weapons of mass destruction programmes by using sophisticated cyber-attacks....
The US said on Friday that North Korea — formally known as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) — carried out nine missile tests last month alone.
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What with all the pretty strict sanctions, it makes one wonder where they are buying the wherewithal to build these weapons.
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Very easy if you have enough money. I suspect also there are lot of governments who aren't too concerned what the North Koreans buy as long as it's paid for in US dollars, gold etc.
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I suspect the number of governments willing to do business with NK is very small. Particularly the ones who have the materials required to make rockets and bomb components.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
It's not some huge secret. China is North Korea's largest trade partner and has been for almost as long as North Korea has existed.
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You assume they want to actually attack the US, and now. It would result in their total destruction.
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For all the buzz about how secure and impenetrable cryptocurrencies are supposed to be, attacks on them and, most importantly, exchanges, are well within the reach of nation state actors.
The cost of a 51% attack on, say, Bitcoin, today, . [crypto51.app]
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...today, is $1.6m/hour [crypto51.app]. That's well within the reach of even modest nations.
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If anyone had "hacked" the blockchain or public/private keys the entire thing would have unraveled by now.
These attacks are on peripheral software, exchanges, wallets, etc that were poorly secured.Saying crypto is insecure because someone's wallet was stolen is like saying banks are insecure... because your physical wallet was stolen.
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Well, bank deposits are insured. Good luck recovering BTC from your lost and/or stolen wallets.
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In the particular case of "hacking" by mounting a 51% attack (which will work even if the crypto algorithms are flawless), I suspect the only reason nobody has done so is that it wouldn't be profitable for them to do it. Not even the North Koreans want to kill the goose that is currently their supplier of golden eggs.
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You think North Korea has close to the hashrate of non-North Korea combined??
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Why bother stealing crypto, when they could just sell NFTs of nuclear weapons? Those should be worth a bundle!
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NFTs are relatively recent and their nuclear program still under development so plain stealing crypto seems more likely.
more reason not to get involved in promoting or using it.
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We should call them Nuclear Funding Tokens.
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Would be a much bigger deal. Cryptocurrency makes it pretty easy to evade sanctions
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Cryptocoins, the perfect currency of th future is funding so many legitimate and socially acceptable projects.
And the best Korea is showing us the way to the future. This is the proof.
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No it was just aggressive capitalism - just like wall street.
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Well, can't we follow the blockchain to find out exactly who is laundering NK's money and profiting from these crimes?
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I remember reading that this was the future of money.
That it was, by it's very nature, secure beyond reproach.
That soon, all other forms of currency would be obsolete.
That we will no longer need banks or middlemen or regulation.
That crypto was a law unto itself.Did something happen that I missed?
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Yeah... they tried to put it into pratice.
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Money is an illusion, digital money more so. Yesterday, I exchanged some numbers on my bank card for beer. The beer was real, and so were the tits of the barmaid, but she would not let me verify my conjecture.
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This is all digital, right? And digital property should be free to take, based on many discussions here regarding digital movies, music, and books - it's just copying bits, it's not hurting anybody. So I don't see what North Korea did that was wrong?
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That could be the basis of a new economic theory. Free money. I think this might already exist in the investment banking industry, but the mean bastards are keeping it to themselves.
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NK a is remarkably efficient and capable nation if they developed hypersonic missiles for $50M. But they can't figure out food? The US propaganda machine needs to keep a consistent message: NK are capable-evil, or incompetent-evil. They can't be both. Though, the US sure does pretend to be incompetent-good when it comes to helping the working and poor access food, housing, healthcare and education. But "competent"-"good" when making war with developing nation. . .
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