Since 2017, North Korean hackers have stolen an estimated $3 billion in digital assets, with $1.7 billion attributed to the most recent year. Analysts at Recorded Future estimate.
Since 2017, North Korea has significantly increased its focus on the cryptocurrency industry, stealing an estimated $3 billion worth of cryptocurrency. pic.twitter.com/cES9gq2AK3
— Recorded Future (@RecordedFuture) November 30, 2023
In 2022, the hackers’ takings were 9.3 times larger than the country’s exports of $182 million.
The amount is equivalent to about 5% of North Korea’s economy or 45% of its military budget, analysts calculated.
According to the report, the hackers initially targeted the South before expanding their reach to the rest of the world. Support from local authorities has led to a significant expansion of illicit activity.
State attention allows the attackers to scale their operations beyond what is possible for traditional cybercriminals, the report says.
Analysts say such activity risks any current player in the industry becoming a target of North Korean hackers, and allows the regime to continue operating and financing itself while under international sanctions.
On November 29, OFAC placed Sinbad.io on the sanctions list for laundering assets of the North Korean Lazarus group.
As noted, the protocol became the primary mixer for Lazarus after the Blender and Tornado Cash were blocked.
The hackers themselves have been under U.S. sanctions since September 2019.
In April 2023, the U.S. Treasury identified three over-the-counter traders who conducted cryptocurrency deals worth tens of millions of dollars for Lazarus.