Theft of crypto assets has become more frequent in North Korea

The largest hacker group, Lazarus, operating in North Korea, has stepped up its activities to steal digital assets from citizens’ accounts.

According to a press release from the national cybersecurity-oriented company, ESTsecurity, the main targets of attackers are people who traded bitcoins and those who work in the field of cryptocurrency. The company warned that these attacks could result in major financial damage. “Lazarus is operating not only in South Korea, but also in the international sphere, including the United States,” the report says and notes that fraudsters are trying to get including foreign currency. In particular, they send out emails, attach malicious files disguised as contracts for developing blockchain software on behalf of large payment companies, after which electronic money disappears from the account.

Add, from 2017 to 2018, Lazarus was one of three hacker groups that managed to steal more than 571 million US dollars from Asian exchanges.