Japan is the largest loser of cryptocurrency to North Korean hackers, in line with a examine by blockchain analytics agency Elliptic. Asian international locations make up three of the 4 prime targets for the so-called Hermit Kingdom’s hackers, Elliptic discovered.
The examine, commissioned and reported on by Japanese monetary publication Nikkei, looked at losses of cryptocurrency from cyberattacks originating in North Korea from 2017 via 2022. The examine took under consideration each hacking and ransomware assaults. It described the assaults as a “nationwide technique.”
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Japan suffered losses of $721 million in these assaults, which was 30% of the world complete of over $2.3 billion, Elliptic discovered, based mostly on an estimate of $640 million of crypto misplaced in 2022. In response to the United Nations, North Korean crypto theft reached a new high in 2022. Nikkei stated:
“In response to the Japan Exterior Commerce Group, the $721 million stolen from Japan is 8.8 occasions higher than the worth of North Korea’s exports in 2021.”
Vietnam was the second-most attacked nation, in line with the report, shedding $540 million in that point span. The US was third with $497 million in losses, and Hong Kong trailed in fourth place with losses of $281 million.
Elliptic: North Korean hackers stole $2.3B in crypto from companies from 2017 to 2022, together with $721M from Japan, $497M from the US, and $281M from Hong Kong (Nikkei Asia)https://t.co/abeNfsBd5khttps://t.co/undE8tEmJq
— Techmeme (@Techmeme) May 15, 2023
Elliptic pointed to lax safety in Japanese and Vietnamese cryptocurrency markets because the rationale for the hackers’ focusing on. Nikkei cites an unnamed supply as saying no less than three Japanese crypto exchanges have been broken into between 2018 and 2021.
North Korea’s Lazarus Group has been behind a number of the greatest heists in crypto, akin to the Ronin Bridge exploit and the Harmony Bridge hack. North Koreans have additionally been alleged to steal nonfungible tokens and to launder their stolen funds via decentralized finance providers and crypto mixers.
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