North Korean State-sponsored Hackers Have Stolen About $721 Million From Japan

According to recent reports, North Korean hackers have stolen $721 million worth of cryptocurrency from Japan. A United Kingdom-based compliance expert revealed the figures stolen from Japan since 2007.

The report follows a statement that a group of seven finance ministers and central bank governors made on Saturday. They expressed their active support for taking proactive measures to counter state actors growing threats such as theft of crypto assets.

According to a media source from Japan, the amount stolen is equal to 30% of the total amount of crypto assets stolen globally.

Notably, these North Korean hackers managed to amass a staggering sum of over $600 million through crypto theft last year. Elliptic, a blockchain analytics company, estimated the figures to be $640 million for 2022.

North Korean Hackers Common Techniques and Goals 

North Korean hackers have two main techniques for conducting cyberattacks. Moreover, these techniques encompass hacking and ransomware attacks. Additionally, it can be inferred that the main objective of these attacks is financial gain. They have consistently utilized these techniques as a means to accomplish their monetary (crypto) theft objectives.

However, a successful ransomware attack by North Korean hackers is still yet to be announced. North Korean hackers are preferably taking a direct hacking approach in stealing crypto assets.

Moreover, there is a belief that their targets extend beyond Japan’s crypto assets, encompassing other countries as well. Speculations also suggest that the motive behind their cyberattacks lies in acquiring foreign currency, which Pyongyang utilizes to fund its missile program.

Elliptic disclosed that they have technology that monitors and identifies crypto transactions on the blockchain. Furthermore, Elliptic revealed that North Korean hackers have stolen over $2 billion worth of cryptocurrency between 2017 and 2020.

Following Japan’s highest loss attributed to North Korean hackers, Vietnam experienced a significant cryptocurrency loss of over $540 million. Additionally, the United States reported a staggering amount of $497 million in losses, while Hong Kong recorded approximately $281 million. These figures indicate the wide-ranging impact of the cyberattacks, demonstrating the extent to which various countries have been targeted and affected.