{"id":54737,"date":"2017-12-16T05:29:30","date_gmt":"2017-12-16T05:29:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=54737"},"modified":"2017-12-16T05:29:30","modified_gmt":"2017-12-16T05:29:30","slug":"north-korea-stolen-millions-cryptocurrencies-spy-agency-reveals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/world-news\/north-korea-stolen-millions-cryptocurrencies-spy-agency-reveals.html","title":{"rendered":"North Korea has stolen MILLIONS in cryptocurrencies, spy agency reveals"},"content":{"rendered":"

North Korea has stolen MILLIONS in cryptocurrencies, spy agency reveals<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

NORTH Korean hackers have stolen over \u00a35million \u2013 now worth \u00a362million \u2013 in cryptocurrencies in cyber attacks, it has been revealed.<\/span><\/p>\n

It comes after experts revealed Kim Jong-un could be making a fortune with Bitcoin’s record-breaking surges using North Korean hackers to circumvent the sanctions placed on the despotic regime as the dictatorship continues its nuclear weapons programme.<\/span><\/p>\n

The \u00a35.17million ($6.99million) includes operations that saw thefts from Yapizon, now called Yobit, and Coinis in April and September \u2013 both are exchanges of cryptocurrencies.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Chosun Ilbo, a South Korean newspaper, stated that the \u00a35million in cryptocurrencies are now worth a whopping \u00a362million ($82.7million).<\/span><\/p>\n

The paper refers to the South\u2019s National Intelligence Service (NIS) that revealed despot leader Kim Jong-un also requested \u00a34.1million ($5.5million) from Bithumb in return for personal information the country had stole from the exchange.<\/span><\/p>\n

North Korea has repeatedly denied it has been involved in international attacks \u2013 but it has made no secret of its interest in bitcoin.<\/span><\/p>\n

Last month, the elite Pyongyang University touted a lecture from a bitcoin expert as part of its cryptocurrency course.<\/span><\/p>\n

Federico Tenga, founder of bitcoin startup, Chainside, was approached by the university, which is believed to be the breeding ground for North Korea\u2019s hackers.<\/span><\/p>\n

The university said: \u201cMany excellent technical questions were asked about the inner working of bitcoin, its risks, and the measures taken to ensure security.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In June the rogue nation leaked information from 36,000 accounts from Bithumb – the exchange is renowned for being the busiest in the world.<\/span><\/p>\n

The hermit kingdom attempted another desperate cyber attack on an estimated 10 cryptocurrency exchanges in October but was denied by the South’s Korea Internet Security Agency (KISA).<\/span><\/p>\n

North Korean hackers attempted to use emails containing malware in the attempted act – these contained internet addresses in the hermit kingdom.<\/span><\/p>\n

Following the failed attack by Kim Jong-un, the NIS discovered that the malware was the same as used in the hacking of Sony Pictures in 2014 and the central bank of Bangladesh in 2016.<\/span><\/p>\n

A hacker group named the \u201cGuardians of Peace\u201d (GOP) demanded that Sony Pictures pull the release of its film, The Interview, and released confidential data from employees at the studio and copies of then-unreleased films in November 2014.<\/span><\/p>\n

The GOP then used a type of malware named Shaman wiper to erase computer infrastructure at Sony.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Interview was a film starring James Franco and Seth Rogen that saw the duo plot to assassinate Kim Jong-un.<\/span><\/p>\n

North Korea has long persisted with its use of cyber attacks – the country appears to be harnessing online tactics with increased regularity in a desperate scramble for finance, a move that could be related to the increased economic squeeze being put on the country by nations around the globe.<\/span><\/p>\n

In an exclusive interview with Express.co.uk, CNN military analyst Cedric Leighton warned that North Korea has the potential to be \u201cvery damaging to a lot of countries\u201d from its tactics employed in the cyber realm.<\/span><\/p>\n

He declared: \u201cIn Great Britain, the NHS attack was a clear indication that a country like North Korea could target the critical infrastructure of a country on the other side of the world and it affected people\u2019s daily lives.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think we need to be very careful with North Korean offensive cyber capabilities and this points to a very interesting development in warfare.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think they also understand and have made very good use of, the whole cyber domain and what\u2019s interesting about this is it doesn\u2019t really take that much in terms of material and resources and frankly personnel as long as you have the right kind and they have a degree of training that makes them effective as hackers.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey can be very, very damaging to a lot of countries that have a much more highly developed intranet connectivity than North Korea itself does.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe big irony is that North Korea\u2019s general population has very limited access to the internet or internet like intranets that are developed in North Korea itself.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBut that has not prevented Pyongyang from developing a robust intelligence gathering effort as well as offensive capability under the reconnaissance of what they call their Reconnaissance General Bureau which is their main intelligence service and that effort has proven to be very potent.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:-\u00a0https:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/news\/world\/893070\/North-Korea-Kim-Jong-un-World-War-3-cyber-attacks-Bitcoin-cryptocurrency-hackers-Sony<\/span><\/p>\n

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