North Korea Suspected Of Funding Nuclear Weapons with Bitcoin!

cryptofy (50)in #north • 6 years ago

Kim Jong-un, the North Korean dictator, is suspected by security analysts of instructing technical professionals to mine bitcoin, claim it for ransom payments and take digital coins from online exchanges and wallets before cashing them in!

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A few days ago, North Korea was inflicted with new sanctions from the U.S. over its missile and nuclear programme, but that has only done less damage than it was anticipated. Here, the challenge is North Korea is capable of bypassing such financial limitations by and use cryptocurrency, having an average of £144million in cryptocurrency transactions!

In a Vox interview, Priscilla Moriuchi, former top National Security Agency officer insisted that there have been various U.S. and international sanctions focused on North Korea and regime and despite the limitations which have been going on for years, the country’s regime has not stopped its drive in developing nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles!

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Also in an interview with Radio Free Asia, Priscilla talked about North Korea gathering approximately 11,000 Bitcoins through shrewd sanction schemes. That means, if the amount were monetized by mid-December when the bitcoin cost skyrocketed, the country would have pocketed at least $151 million. According to Priscilla Moriuchi, it should also be reminded that North Korea earns over $200 million through cryptocurrency to fiat-money exchange!

However, Moriuchi claimed that the crypto money earned by the country is not adequate to fund its ballistic missile and nuclear programs. Probably, the coins are converted into something different, let say currency or physical goods that are supporting the illegal programme!

A security researcher, Ashley Shen from a firm that operates independently has managed to track three hacking teams – Lazarus, Bluenoroff, and Andariel, which harassed bitcoin exchanges in addition to having enough evidence that the rogue regime is accountable for the targeted raids!

In the recent month, the cost of bitcoin had soared to nearly $1,000 from the starting of 2017 hitting approximately $20,000 before the year ended. According to South Korean Internet & Security Agency director, Lee Don-geun, it is a reality North Korea is the one responsible for attacks of virtual currency exchanges!

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It is not well known the total amount stolen by North Korea so far, although the police have confirmed the hacking attempts of South Korea crypto systems are linked to the northern counterpart. There have been various reported attempts of hacking, some with different degrees of success on South Korea exchanges, with the majority of them allied to its Northern counterpart. And despite the various numbers of sanctions, North Korea is determined to continue with this trend!

Government Officials Banned

According to Maeil Business Newspaper, the South Korean government has banned all officials in government from possessing or trading cryptocurrencies. Despite the fact that crypto practices are not associated with their jobs, the officials are still subjected to disciplinary actions if they break the law. It is the first time South Korea government has formulated a ban on crypto to public officials!

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Disciplinary Actions Encouraged Although Not Defined

The ban publication from the personnel affairs department read that if employees trade on crypto for their personal benefit, they would be violating the civil servants’ law of the prohibition of forbearance obligations particularly if trading is conducted during working hours. As per the high-ranking official explaining quote, the disciplinary matter is not about the quantitative cut, but the issue lies with the interpretation of the law. Thus, each ministry is accountable for judging the possibility of discipline!

Additional Efforts

The Fair Trade Commission, The Korean Financial Services Commission (FSC), and other associated departments have already cautioned their employees on investing in virtual currencies. Hong Nam, the Office of Policy head, in January he reminded other public officials of the precaution of breaking the law! Last month, Civil Rights Commission and the Korean Anti-Corruption issued the cryptocurrency code of conduct to all public agencies and government departments!

The document adds digital currency to Article 12 (of the Civil Servant Code of Conduct) that prohibits public officers from using information acquired during their duties to help in trading or investing in crypto. Besides, the independent agency, FSS is looking forward to reviewing its code of conduct!

At the beginning of this year, another bill was presented requiring all public officials to declare their investments in cryptocurrency. That followed accusations that some government workers were engaged in crypto trading by utilizing undisclosed information of future parameters in addition to market manipulation!

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Attach Of South Korea Exchanges by North Korea

Regarding cryptocurrency developing, South Korea has turned out into a strong competitor, and it's now a vital element, particularly in bitcoin sector. The fact attracts more attention, both positive and negative from foreign sides!

It looks; North Korea is among the countries that are negatively influencing this industry. As per cybersecurity experts, there were various hacking attacks against the country by the northern counterpart. According to the Recorded Future enterprise, it is the same source of hacking that was applied in 2014 to damage Sony Pictures and also in 2017 tampering with the global WannaCry software!

The last large attack targeted Coinlink, South Korean cryptocurrency exchange. There is speculation that the hackers began gathering personal employees’ information the previous year. Lucky enough, for South Korea, the attack failed!

The official report published on January 17, 2018, on Tuesday, by Recorded Futurewebsite analyzed the manner in which hackers acted whereby the report revealed similarities between former attacks on well-known companies. As per the base source, Lazarus is hiding beneath this movement whereby North Korea is accused of sponsoring this group to continue with the mentioned illegal activities!

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Also, according to a confirmed report from US authorities, they are the same sources that infected websites in the U.S. and South Korea utilizing the MyDoom virus. Lazarus began focusing on the crypto sector since 2017 before attacking Bithumb exchange platform in a report given by Yonhap News!

Reason South Korea Was Attacked

As known, North Korea is not only targeting its neighbors but also other essential financial and government entities. It is presumed that Lazarus runs a hacking campaign in support of Kim Jong Un’s financial plans. The other assail conducted in December 2017 last year was reported on YoBit, South Korean Bitcoin exchange by the same source who is known to operate as a big team!

Priscilla Moriuchi (Recorded Future boarding director) associated the North Korea attacks with the continuation of their wider interest in cryptocurrency in the financing stream. Regarding cryptocurrency, South Korea is a strong nation and has a high likelihood of attracting negative influencers. At this time of vulnerable attacks, we will know cryptocurrency platforms with strong security!

North Korea Stole Billions of Bitcoins

South Korea argues that state-sponsored groups of hackers are still trying to hack their exchanges. A member of the parliamentary intelligence committee, Kim Byung-kee added that North Korea had stolen millions of bitcoins through phishing campaigns. The movement entailed sending of emails that are used to hack customers’ private information and cryptocurrency exchanges before stealing digital currency!

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Other phishing campaigns also entail sending emails via en masse or social engineering, which normally contain attached documents or malicious links with embedded malware designed for stealing information, surveillance and account compromise. Even though Kim Byung-kee did not mention the compromised exchanges by North Korea, the official said, the northern counterpart was continuously putting the security of South Korean exchanges into test!

If the allegations are true, then Kim Jung-un must have amassed his fortune this year whereby the bitcoin value has risen by more than $19,000. The Lazarus cybercrime group has also been associated with the crippling of NHS after using malware that locked down PCs and demanded ransom in bitcoins before reopening them. Security researchers from Insikt Group, Priscilla Moriuchi, and Juan Andres Guerrero-Saade have published a study that points to the likelihood of Pyongyang launching attack campaigns!

During the attack, the most affected bodies are Coinlink cryptocurrency exchange, Friends of MOFA (a group of college students associated with Ministry of Foreign Affairs) and various South Korean cryptocurrency exchanges! It is believed the hackers stole passwords and emails exchanges and resumes of computer scientists who worked at same exchanges in the past!

Kim Byung-kee gave assurance that South Korea was doing its best to ensure maximum security to its cryptocurrency exchanges but the promise was difficult to hold up since more flaws and vulnerabilities are found in security protocols. These are exploited by hackers who aim to compromise web domains, home networks, accounts of online services and enterprises!

#korea #bitcoin #cryptocurrency #attack

6 years ago in #north by cryptofy (50)

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tuventure (43) 6 years ago

Crypto-assets are not an industry nor an investment. It is truly a viable exit strategy to get out of the stranglehold of the manipulation to be an obedient human cattle.

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cryptofy (50) 6 years ago

@tuventure Ok

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