Over the course of the last five years, hackers in North Korea have been able to steal more than $1.2B worth of crypto. As reported by the Associated Press, the chief spy agency operating in South Korea named the National Intelligence Service (NIS) states that the hackers have collected nearly fifty percent of their cumulative crypto yields solely in the present year.

South Korea’s NIS Reportedly Accuses North Korean Hackers of Stealing $1.2B Crypto

According to the report, the NIS asserts that after 2017 up till now the hackers who are backed by the North Korean state drained up to $1.2 billion amount in digital assets out of unspecified locations across the globe. A $626M proportion of the cumulative stolen amount was reportedly extracted in the current year. The share of South Korea in the total swindled figure equals $78 million.

The NIS is of the view that hackers from North Korea are considered among the finest in the world. The agency added that the country has elevated its endeavors related to cybercrime to enhance its lower economy as well as fund the nuclear arms project after witnessing that the U.N. fortified economic sanctions to confront it back in 2017.

The extra sanctions took place in reaction to the nuclear as well as missile tests, as per the report.

The reports mention that the U.N. sanctions of 2017 prohibited many exports from North Korea, taking into account seafood, textiles, and coal. The economy of the country went through an additional drop-down as a few of the stringent restrictions were imposed in reaction to the COVID contagion.

As a consequence of the mounting crypto thefts, top officials belonging to Japan, South Korea, and the United States joined to make a plan.

Recently, they have mutually decided to take additional measures to stop the cybercrime-related activities of North Korea. In the words of the NIS, the chief target of the North Korean hackers has been the crypto exchange platforms established in South Korea.

However, the agency thinks that now the hacking entities are focusing the individuals for their malicious purposes, particularly in the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector.

The NIS also anticipates that the hackers from Pyongyang would aim at DeFi services because they are vulnerable in terms of regulations in South Korea. Seoul has accused Pyongyang of many attacks and says that the hackers took away approximately a $7M amount from Bithumb (a crypto exchange) back in 2017’s February.

Seoul Advances Its Regulatory Measures after Huge Losses Due to North Korea-Based Hackers

In addition to this, South Korea accuses North Korean exploiters of effectively bankrupting Youbit (a crypto company) in the same year after robbing seventeen percent of the cumulative crypto assets thereof. Since that time, Seoul has been attempting to regulate exchanges.

At present, it just grants operating licenses to entities that can guarantee that they possess unique security protocols.