USA: North Korea is building its missiles for cryptocurrency

The U.S. government believes that cyberattacks and cryptocurrency theft have become a major source of revenue for North Korea. Deputy National Security Advisor for Cybercrime and Emerging Technologies Anne Neuberger noted that at least half of the DPRK’s missile program is financed by cybercrime. The official assures that the US authorities are taking all possible measures to identify and stop financing the North Korean regime. Currently, US intelligence agencies are trying to find out how the DPRK manages to steal crypto assets so successfully.

Cryptocurrency has become an important source of funding for North Korean nuclear programs and the development of weapons of mass destruction. Analysts have repeatedly argued that it was through the theft and laundering of digital assets that North Korea was able to launch 70 ballistic missiles in 2022, despite the sanctions imposed by the civilized world. South Korean media have emphasized that Pyongyang will need «foreign currency» to finance its nuclear development, which means that «the growth of illegal cyber activities will be inevitable.» First of all, we are talking about the most famous hacker group Lazarus Group.

Earlier, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) penalized three traders for helping to convert crypto assets for the Lazarus Group. And according to a report by the US cybersecurity company Mandiant, another North Korean hacker group APT43 uses cloud mining services to launder stolen cryptocurrency.

Last year, Lazarus was also accused of hacking Israeli and Japanese crypto exchanges. Most analysts are confident that phishing attacks by North Korea will not stop, and international organizations will respond to promising cryptocurrency and cybercrime by Pyongyang with further sanctions.