In early August 2019, North Korea made news when Leaprate reported that the country has reportedly hacked and stole around $2 billion worth of crypto and fiat money. The hack was done through numerous cyber attacks on different financial institutions and crypto exchanges. The ultimate goal? – to fund a military weapons program. The news came from a draft report by the United Nations.
One month later and North Korea denies all the allegations. According to Reuters, the denial of accusations came from the National Coordination Committee of the DPRK for Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism that accused the United States of America of spreading false information.
The report from the UN specifically stated more than 25 occasions on which North Korea hacked crypto exchanges and financial institutions for illegal mining activity. The hacks reportedly occurred in around 16 countries.
As Coin Desk reported, according to the UN report, a majority of North Korea’s hackers are believed to operate under the intelligence agency called Reconnaissance General Bureau. North Korea is now refuting all the evidence provided in the report and states that the allegations are completely false. However, there are many reasons to believe that there were serious hacking activity in the country, as even the most prominent hacking group in the world, Lazarus, is believed to be working for the North Korean government. There are no evidence, nevertheless, about that.