Attacks on cryptocurrency exchanges have now become an important source of revenue for North Korea, according to a report by the United Nations.

According to the document, seen by Reuters news agency, North Korean hackers continue to target exchanges dealing with cryptocurrency.

It is estimated that more than $50 million was stolen by cybercriminals from 2020 to mid-2021, and many businesses in North America, Europe and Asia were affected.

This number may be conservative.

Chainalysis estimated that North Korean hackers orchestrated seven attacks on crypto platforms in 2021 alone, and were able to obtain digital assets worth $400 million through these attacks.

Cryptocurrencies are likely to become important to the Kim Jong Un regime due to the severe economic sanctions imposed by the United Nations, especially with the cross-border nature of digital currencies allowing them to avoid these restrictions.

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Last Friday, it emerged that North Korea had conducted nine ballistic missile launches in January alone, and Washington claims the launch was the largest in the country’s history.

North Korea is a potential threat to trading platforms:

Blockchain analytics firms are gaining a growing understanding of how North Korean hackers operate, with Chinalysis explaining that lures of phishing, code exploits, malware and advanced social engineering are used to steal money from victims’ hot wallets and to addresses controlled by North Korean hackers.

From here begins a delicate laundering process for cover-up and withdrawal of funds.

The vast majority of the cryptocurrency stolen by North Korea is Ethereum with ERC-20 altcoins accounting for 22%, while Bitcoin accounts for the remaining 20%.

Mixing services are used, and the vast majority of the stolen cryptocurrency ends up being converted into bitcoin and sent to deposit addresses of cryptocurrency exchanges based in Asia.

Chainalysis also says that the $170 million in untouched money has been left untouched and unlaundered, indicating that the attackers are waiting for the legal scrutiny to end.

The Chinalysis report also stated:

The North Korean government has systematically enhanced its tactics, be it the Lazarus group or its other criminal gangs.

Read:How did the Ethereum Classic hacker steal $5.6 million from the OKEx platform?

This means that it represents an advanced and persistent threat to the cryptocurrency industry.

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