Kim Jong-un’s country will be the biggest crypto thief in history

Landmark hacks attributed to North Korea

Cybercrime is the perfect field for those looking to operate discreetly. North Korea seems to have mastered the art of crypto theft with operational precision. The most recent case is that of CoinEx.

On September 12, this exchange platform suffered a spectacular hack. Indeed, abnormal withdrawals have taken place from its “hot wallets”, including particularly large amounts of ETH, BTC, SOL and TRON.

The damage caused is estimated at $54 million according to media ZD Net. The fingerprint of the Lazarus Group, a notorious collective funded by the North Korean government, appears to be at the crime scene.

But this is not the first time suspicion has been pointed at Kim Jong-un’s country. The last few months have been a witness major thefts in Alphapo, CoinsPaid and Atomic Wallet. These losses are estimated at hundreds of millions of dollars in crypto.

Likewise, the Lazarus Group has also been accused of stealing more than $600 million from the Ronin Network.

The Lazarus Group is also accused of stealing $625 million from Ronin Network, a cryptocurrency-based gaming affiliate. According to Decrypt, since 2018, through these cybercriminals, North Korea has managed to steal more than $2 billion.

How do hackers launder stolen crypto?

After a successful hack, the real challenge for these cybercriminals is to launder the stolen cryptos to use them carefully. This complex process generally involves divide the stolen valuess.

Once split, they are passed through a series of addresses to cover their tracks. Then, they can use “mixers” or “tumblers,” services that mix different users’ cryptos to make transactions nearly impossible to trace.

Faced with this threat, the FBI has stepped up surveillance efforts. Recently, the agency reported the movement of around 1580 bitcoins, from various hacks, to six specific addresses.

This action aims to hinder the activities of hackers by highlighting their maneuvers.