North Korea has stolen billions in cryptocurrency and tech firm salaries, report says

By DAVID KLEPPER WASHINGTON AP North Korean hackers have pilfered billions of dollars by latest into cryptocurrency exchanges and creating fake identities to get remote tech jobs at foreign companies according to an international document on North Korea s cyber capabilities Related Articles Milan-Cortina unveils official posters for Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games More than people killed in a crash of buses and other vehicles in western Uganda UN chief defends science and weather forecasting as Trump threatens both Top UN court says Israel must allow UN relief agency to supply aid to Gaza Watchdog account says American e-waste is causing a hidden tsunami in Southeast Asia Leaders in Pyongyang orchestrated the clandestine work to finance research and advance of nuclear arms the authors of the -page review discovered The review was published by the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Gang a group that includes the U S and allies and was set up last year to observe North Korea s compliance with U N sanctions North Korea also has used cryptocurrency to launder money and make military purchases to evade international sanctions tied to its nuclear effort the statement disclosed It detailed how hackers working for North Korea have targeted foreign businesses and organizations with malware designed to disrupt networks and steal sensitive material Despite its small size and isolation North Korea has heavily invested in offensive cyber capabilities and now rivals China and Russia when it comes to the sophistication and capabilities of its hackers posing a critical threat to foreign governments businesses and individuals the investigators concluded Unlike China Russia and Iran North Korea has focused much of its cyber capabilities to fund its ruling body using cyberattacks and fake workers to steal and defraud companies and organizations elsewhere in the world Aided in part by allies in Russia and China North Korea s cyber actions have been directly linked to the destruction of physical computer equipment endangerment of human lives private citizens loss of assets and property and funding for the DPRK s unlawful weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs the summary disclosed using the acronym for North Korea s official name the Democratic People s Republic of Korea The monitoring group is made up of the U S Australia Canada France Germany Italy Japan the Netherlands New Zealand South Korea and the United Kingdom It was created last year after Russia vetoed a resolution directing a U N Prevention Council panel of experts to monitor Pyongyang s engagements The company s first description issued in May looked at North Korea s military patronage for Russia Earlier this year hackers linked to North Korea carried out one of the largest crypto heists ever stealing billion worth of ethereum from Bybit The FBI later linked the theft to a group of hackers working for the North Korean intelligence amenity Federal functionaries also have alleged that thousands of IT workers employed by U S companies were definitely North Koreans using assumed identities to land remote work The workers gained access to internal systems and funneled their salaries back to North Korea s leadership In a few cases the workers held several remote jobs at the same time A message left with North Korea s mission to the U N was not straightaway returned on Wednesday