I care less about how much they stole than about how much they sold. Crypto is all well and good, but how they sell it for cash or products to avoid sanctions should be the lead story. Stealing crypto hurts crypto investors. Avoidance of international sanctions hurts innocent people, mostly poor people living under an oppressively regime who have no connection to crypto.
North Korean hackers stole a record $1.7B of crypto last year
151–160 of 203 posts
Re: North Korean hackers stole a record $1.7B of crypto last year
#152Earlier quoted context omitted.
It is a surprise for those who take the common portrayal of the country at face value. We know it's not quite the "hermit kingdom" it's often described as, but most do not.
Any good sources on what it’s actually like?
There are probably no good sources for what your average North Korean's life is currently like. There are a handful of famous accounts from a few of those who escaped the country and they're obviously pretty grim (particularly those describing prison camp life) but the stereotype is of this primitive country, which is backwards both ideologically and technologically. I'm not an idiot, I don't believe there's a little hidden Wakanda going on there. But we can at least observe that if they're able to hack that quantity of crypto there is some kind of tech operation going on there, however small it might be. So they're not entirely shut off and they're able to penetrate at least a bunch of western crypto-startups.
If you're motivated, don't mind a very on-rails, restricted and relatively pricey tour, you can actually visit yourself: https://koryogroup.com - I've wanted to for a while, but I've spent less money to travel in other interesting places with fewer restrictions for longer, so it's hard to justify the expense.
An interesting read you might like is by a couple of Austrian guys who decided to hop on a train there, confusing and irritating border officials who didn't expect an invasion from the northern direction :) http://vienna-pyongyang.blogspot.com
Probably the most accessible and interesting thing though, is a podcast series called "Blowback" (it's Season 3, the previous two were on the Cuban revolution and the Iraq war). Now obviously this isn't the current day but it presents a slightly more balanced view of the events leading up to and throughout the Korean War than your average American or Brit might have picked up through osmosis. It's fascinating, well-produced, well-sourced and has a very good soundtrack. Here's ep 1: https://www.stitcher.com/show/blowback/episode/s3-episode-1-...
As I said, there will be no good way to get any kind of verifiable account of how awful or how ok-ish is it is there. And I'm deliberately putting "ok-ish" as the upper limit because while I'm sure that all the ~20 million inhabitants aren't all living the prison camp lifestyle, I don't imagine your average North Korean has a particularly pleasant life.
Sorry, maybe not the answer you were hoping for but I hope you enjoy any or all of the things I suggested :)
Re: North Korean hackers stole a record $1.7B of crypto last year
#153There's a really good 12 episode BBC podcast called "The Lazarus Heist" that details the extent of this state enterprise. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/w13xtvg9
There is also the Darknet Diaries "Bangladesh Bank Heist" episode https://darknetdiaries.com/transcript/72/
Re: North Korean hackers stole a record $1.7B of crypto last year
#154Earlier quoted context omitted.
> 1. They hack computers not code. Their normal plan is to steal keys by compromising users and computers. This is in contrast to the normal "hack" that works by finding and exploiting bugs in code. I'm just a 'regular security guy' but in that link you posted they detail that after the initial phishing compromise "The attacker managed to leverage that access to penetrate Sky Mavis IT infrastructure and gain access t…
The companies getting hacked are not the web3 ones like Ethereum or Terra. They are normally inside jobs with the founders stealing from the "decentralised" network they secretly control. It's the exchanges that are run like traditional business without the magic blockchain power.
Ethereum is not a company.
Re: North Korean hackers stole a record $1.7B of crypto last year
#155I call complete total and utter bullshit. I don't buy, for a second, this narrative that NK would have elite hackers. Do you guys realize how retarded that country is? Everytime the subject comes up I can't but say we're talking about the country where official propaganda pictures trying to make believe they have military hoovercraft (as if it was a cool thing btw) are badly photoshopped. A country with a total GDP o…
Re: North Korean hackers stole a record $1.7B of crypto last year
#156Not bad for a supposedly backwards repressed regime, unless thats the least stolen compared to 1st world countries? It also exposes a wider problem the crypto community are not addressing.
> Not bad for a supposedly backwards repressed regime What do you mean by supposedly? > It also exposes a wider problem the crypto community are not addressing. What wider problem? That money (in any form) can be stolen by a malevolent state?
North Korea's internet access is through a fibre optic connection from China, you know that place with the supposed great firewall of china, whilst the likes of the UK hides the fact and 5eyes hides the fact its got total oversight of the internet including Tor!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telecommunications_in_North_Ko...
Re: North Korean hackers stole a record $1.7B of crypto last year
#157I wonder how big the pressure/temptation is for a North Korean, hacking for the state (presumably), to escape with a couple hundred coins and defect?
I'm sure the repercussions / penalties must be huge, but then so are the amounts they must be seeing day by day, compared to average standard of living in N. Korea.
Or maybe this is a cadre of military / public conscripted workers who regard this hacking as a patriotic service even?
Re: North Korean hackers stole a record $1.7B of crypto last year
#158Earlier quoted context omitted.
The companies getting hacked are not the web3 ones like Ethereum or Terra. They are normally inside jobs with the founders stealing from the "decentralised" network they secretly control. It's the exchanges that are run like traditional business without the magic blockchain power.
Ethereum is not a company.
Not officially but in practice nothing that distinguishes it from a company
Re: North Korean hackers stole a record $1.7B of crypto last year
#159I wonder how big the pressure/temptation is for a North Korean, hacking for the state (presumably), to escape with a couple hundred coins and defect? I'm sure the repercussions / penalties must be huge, but then so are the amounts they must be seeing day by day, compared to average standard of living in N. Korea. Or maybe this is a cadre of military / public conscripted workers who regard this hacking as a patriotic…
Probably not worth the multi-generational punishment.
Re: North Korean hackers stole a record $1.7B of crypto last year
#160I care less about how much they stole than about how much they sold . Crypto is all well and good, but how they sell it for cash or products to avoid sanctions should be the lead story. Stealing crypto hurts crypto investors . Avoidance of international sanctions hurts innocent people , mostly poor people living under an oppressively regime who have no connection to crypto.
International sanctions hurts innocent people. Who do you think is suffering more from the sanctions, Assad or the poor Syrians?