With the growing adoption and popularity of cryptocurrencies attempts by bad actors have also surged to trouble the wider market resulting in losses of billions in a year.
Since the beginning of the year, dozens of media outlets have reported that of all illicit frauds, scams, and other illicit activities, the majority have been carried out by North Korean hackers.
The Lazarus Group, a notorious hacking collective believed to operate out of North Korea, has been linked to significant cryptocurrency thefts. Recent findings reveal that the group has illicitly acquired billions of dollars in digital assets, targeting remote IT professionals, venture capitalists, and recruiters from major corporations.
A recent report reveals that security researchers at Cyberwarcon, an annual conference on cyber threats, have uncovered a tactic used by North Korean hackers.
These hackers are reportedly posing as job applicants seeking positions at multinational corporations. Their primary goal is to generate revenue for the North Korean government while simultaneously stealing corporate secrets to support the country’s nuclear weapons program.
An alarming trend is the infiltration of global organizations by hackers masquerading as remote IT professionals. These individuals craft convincing online personas with AI-generated images and fabricated resumes to secure positions at prominent companies.
After being hired, they collaborate with facilitators in the U.S. to manage company-issued laptops and process their earnings, effectively circumventing sanctions. These facilitators set up laptop farms, enabling North Korean hackers to access systems remotely while concealing their actual locations.
Despite Legalizing Crypto in NK, Hackers Continue to Trouble!
North Korean hackers are termed one of the most disastrous hackers in the world, almost every nation has reported hacking attempts based out in North Korea.
Several renowned names in the market have been troubled by Lazarus Group resulting in losses of billions of dollars.
Scam techniques such as pig butchering, romance scams, job scams, investment scams, social engineering, and rug pulls remain the most popular in the ongoing year. The hack of PlayDapp is one of the most disastrous hacks which resulted in losses of around $300 million followed by WazirX which roughly lost $250 million, Orbit Chain lost $80 million and most importantly Radiant Capital lost more than $65 million in two different breaches.
However, the total amount lost by BlockTower Capital remains undisclosed, it was reported on November 3 that MetaWin, an online casino platform, suffered a significant security breach resulting in the theft of approximately $4 million.
The attackers targeted the platform’s hot wallets by exploiting its frictionless withdrawal mechanism. In response, MetaWin temporarily halted all withdrawal activities to prevent further losses.
Despite all these events, prices of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have shown tremendous growth, as of writing the market capitalization was $3.41 trillion and BTC was at $96, 822 with a weekly decline of 2.01 percent.
