Seoul says North Korean hackers stole £962m in digital assets

North Korean hackers have stolen around 1.5 trillion won (£962 million) in cryptocurrencies and other virtual assets over the past five years, more than half this year alone, South Korean intelligence agencies say.

North Korea has turned to cryptocurrency hacking and other illicit cyber activity as a much-needed source of foreign exchange to shore up its fragile economy and fund its nuclear program in the wake of crippling U.N. sanctions and the Covid-19 pandemic, experts and officials say.

North Korea’s ability to steal digital assets is considered the best in the world, South Korea’s main spy agency, the National Intelligence Service (NIS), said, as the country has focused on cyberspace since the United Nations stepped up economic sanctions in response to its nuclear threat in 2017. Crime and missile tests.

U.N. sanctions imposed in 2016-17 banned North Korean exports of key products such as coal, textiles and seafood, and led member states to repatriate North Korean workers abroad.

Its economy has suffered a further setback after some of the world’s toughest restrictions were imposed in response to the pandemic.

State-sponsored North Korean hackers are estimated to have stolen 1.5 trillion won (£962 million) in virtual assets globally since 2017, with around 800 billion won (£513 million) stolen this year alone, the NIS said. billion pounds). Of that, more than 100bn won (£64m) is said to have come from South Korea.

North Korean hackers are expected to carry out more cyberattacks next year to steal advanced South Korean technology and classified information on South Korea’s foreign policy and national security, it said.

Earlier this month, top diplomats from the United States, South Korea and Japan agreed to step up efforts to curb North Korea’s illegal cyber activity.

In February, a United Nations panel of experts said North Korea continued to steal hundreds of millions of dollars from financial institutions, cryptocurrency firms and exchanges.

Despite economic difficulties, North Korea has conducted a record number of missile tests this year in what some experts say is an effort to modernize its arsenal and increase leverage in future negotiations with rivals to win sanctions relief and other concessions.