North Korean hackers have stolen over $3 billion in crypto in five years

North Korean hackers have stolen over $3 billion in cryptocurrency over the past five years, reports The Wall Street Journal.

The stolen funds are used to finance about 50% of North Korea's ballistic missile launch program.

One of the attack victims was the blockchain gaming developer Sky Mavis studio. One of its employees was looking for a new job. A person posing as an employer contacted him via LinkedIn, and after a phone interview, sent a document to the applicant.

It turned out that the file was a trojan, allowing North Korean hackers to infiltrate Sky Mavis and steal over $600 million, primarily from Axie Infinity players. Sky Mavis has compensated those affected by the cyber attack.

“The real growth in [attacks] last year was aimed at central crypto infrastructure around the world, which holds a significant amount of money, including Sky Mavis,” said Anne Neuberger, a deputy national security advisor responsible for cybersecurity and emerging technologies. “This has forced us to focus on countering these actions,” she added.

Reports indicate that North Korea began launching significant crypto attacks in 2018. In 2022, there were more than 42 successful attacks.