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The US government warns of North Korean crypto hackers

 


The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued a statement yesterday with a prominent warning. It states that hacking groups from North Korea are using various techniques to steal crypto.


This warning is obviously very important as it came from three major US government agencies. The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the US Treasury Department jointly issued this alert. It was dubbed the Cybersecurity Advisory.


The goals

It is said that the US government has found hacking groups sponsored by North Korea. Users can be victimized indirectly as the hackers target crypto companies.


The announcement states that large investors should beware, but the main focus is on crypto exchanges, decentralized funding protocols, play-to-earn games, venture capital firms and trading firms.


The reason the hackers are targeting cryptocurrencies is to steal and launder money to support the North Korean regime, according to the warning. This isn't the first time this has happened.


North Korea started hacking crypto exchanges years ago. In 2018, the country has already stolen half a billion dollars, in 2019 another 2 billion. These are considerable sums that do not necessarily end up in the right place. Not long ago, stolen cryptography was used by North Korea to fund missile programs.


TraderTraitor Campaigns

According to the alert, hacker groups have been actively trying to steal crypto from various crypto companies using various techniques. Two of these techniques were phishing campaigns and social engineering. So how did these hackers work?


It starts sending messages. "The messages often mimic a recruitment effort and offer high-paying jobs to trick recipients into downloading malware-laden cryptocurrency applications, which the U.S. government has dubbed 'TraderTraitor,'" the announcement said.


“The term TraderTraitor describes a set of malicious applications […] The malicious applications come from a variety of open source projects and pretend to be cryptocurrency trading or price prediction tools. TraderTraitor campaigns feature modern design websites that promote the applications' supposed capabilities.”

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