North Korea Ran ICOs to Fund Regime and Hacked Crypto Exchange

The security firm alleged the government of North Korea of running illicit initial coin offering (ICO) projects and breaching into large crypto exchanges.

According to cybersecurity firm Inksit Group, state-funded hackers in North Korea have been targeting crypto exchanges in South Korea to circumvent various sanctions imposed on the regime.

North Korea Targeted South Korean Cryptocurrency Users and Exchange in Late 2017 Campaign,” the cybersecurity firm stated that identical malware used in the Sony Pictures hacking attack and WannaCry ransomware was used in breaching into Coinlink, a local cryptocurrency exchange.

In the month of January, Inksit Group and Recorded Future claimed that North Korea was behind several high profile security breaches suffered by South Korea’s cryptocurrency exchanges.

In a report entitled “North Korea Targeted South Korean Cryptocurrency 

Users and Exchange in Late 2017 Campaign,” the cybersecurity firm stated that identical malware used in the Sony Pictures hacking attack and WannaCry ransomware was used in breaching into Coinlink, a local cryptocurrency exchange.

At the time, Inksit Group alleged Lazarus Group, a state-supported hacking organization in North Korea, for taking part in the Bithumb attack. Lazarus Group is suspected of having distributed Hangul Word Processor (HWP) files, which are equivalent to Microsoft Word documents in South Korea, to target employees of crypto exchanges.

This week, Inksit Group emphasized that the North Korean regime has continued to target local cryptocurrency trading platforms in South Korea.

“Broadly, these types of cryptocurrency scams fit the template of the low-level financial crime described by defectors that has plagued South Korea for years, and that the international community is just beginning to track. It is a natural step for both a group of actors that has been so embedded in the cryptocurrency world for years and for a network that is being forced to innovate new funding streams to counter the effects of international sanctions.”