North Korea denies UN allegations of theft of $ 2 billion from banks

The North Korean government has denied allegations of numerous hacks on cryptocurrency exchanges and financial companies around the world.

On Sunday, North Korea issued a statement in which it categorically denies any reports published by the United Nations linking the government with cyber attacks on cryptocurrency exchanges and financial institutions.

At the beginning of August, the DPRK was accused of stealing $ 2 billion from banks and cryptocurrency exchanges for the development of weapons in a closed UN report. A week later, the UN released an expanded version of the North Korean cybercrime report, revealing new details of North Korean hacker operations. According to the report, North Korea carried out at least 35 hacks in 17 countries. The UN claims that South Korea took the brunt of the attack, bearing 10 attacks.

The state news agency KCNA referred to a statement by a representative of the DPRK National Coordinating Committee on combating money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism, who said:

“The United States and other hostile forces are now spreading rumors. Such an invention of our enemies is nothing but a vile game aimed at tarnishing the image of our Republic and finding an excuse for sanctions and a campaign of pressure on the DPRK. Falsification of such an obvious lie by the leaders of cybercrime and other crimes is a rather absurd action aimed at reproducing the same strategy that Hitler propagandists usually used: “Tell a lie a hundred times, and it will seem true.”

Despite the rebuttals, all the evidence suggests that North Korea carried out cyber attacks with the aim of accumulating crypto assets. Recall that North Korea has more than once been associated with major hacks in the cryptocurrency industry. Back in the fall of last year, Group-IB announced that the North Korean hacker group Lazarus stole $ 571 million in cryptocurrencies.

In December, it was also reported that North Korean hackers prey on cryptocurrencies for ordinary users. In addition, according to data provided by East Security, in the spring, North Korean hackers attempted a phishing attack on users of the South Korean exchange Upbit.