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According to a study by blockchain analyst Elliptic, Japan is the biggest cryptocurrency loss for North Korean hackers. Elliptic found that three of the four top targets for hackers from the so-called Hermit Kingdom are Asian countries.
The study, commissioned and reported by the Japanese financial publication Nikkei, saw On cryptocurrency losses from cyber attacks in North Korea from 2017 to 2022. The study took into account both hacking and ransomware attacks. It described the attacks as a “national strategy”.
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Elliptic found that Japan lost $721 million in those attacks, 30% of the world total of $2.3 billion, based on estimates of $640 million worth of crypto losses in 2022. According to the United Nations, North Korean crypto theft reached a new high in 2022. Nikkei said:
“The $721 million stolen from Japan is 8.8 times the value of North Korea’s exports in 2021, according to the Japan Foreign Trade Organization.”
According to the report, Vietnam was the second most attacked country, causing $540 million in damage during that time period. The United States was third with losses of $497 million, and Hong Kong was fourth with losses of $281 million.
Ellipse: North Korean hackers stole $2.3B in crypto from businesses from 2017 to 2022, including $721M from Japan, $497M from the US, and $281M from Hong Kong (Nikkei Asia).https://t.co/abeNfsBd5khttps://t.co/undE8tEmJq
— Techmeme (@Techmeme) May 15, 2023
Elliptic pointed to the weakening of security in the Japanese and Vietnamese cryptocurrency markets as an argument for the hackers’ targeting. The Nikkei, citing unnamed sources, said that at least three Japanese crypto exchanges are set to collapse between 2018 and 2021.
North Korea’s Lazarus Group has been behind some of the biggest heists in crypto, such as the Ronin Bridge exploit and the Harmony Bridge hack. The North Koreans have also been accused of stealing non-fungible tokens (NTFs) and laundering their stolen funds through decentralized financial services and crypto mixers.
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