Crime North Korean hackers stole $721 million in cryptocurrency from Japan

International bodies are waking up to the threat emanating from North Korea. In the joint statement adopted by the Group of Seven finance ministers and central bank governors on Saturday in Japan, top officials acknowledged the "growing threat from illicit activities by state actors" such as the theft of cryptocurrencies, with North Korea's repeated missile launches in mind. According to a report released on April 5 by a U.N. Security Council panel of experts, North Korea stole between $600 million and $1 billion in cryptocurrency in 2022, double the previous year's total. Elliptic estimated the figure at $640 million for 2022.

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North Korea employs two main types of cyberattacks: hacking and ransomware. Elliptic's analysis mostly uncovered hacking -- stealing directly from cryptocurrency exchanges. Since it is uncertain whether a particular ransomware attack will be successful, North Korea is thought to be focusing its efforts on direct attacks on exchanges as one successful hack can bring in a huge haul of crypto assets. According to Elliptic, North Korea has stolen a total of $2.3 billion in cryptocurrency from businesses between 2017 and the end of 2022. Of that, Japan accounted for the largest portion, followed by Vietnam ($540 million), the U.S. ($497 million) and Hong Kong ($281 million). According to the Japan External Trade Organization, the $721 million stolen from Japan is 8.8 times greater than the value of North Korea's exports in 2021.

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