A confidential report has just been released by the United Nations, containing claims that North Korea became $2 billion richer by cyberattacks, breaching several banks and cryptocurrency exchanges around the world. According to the story published by Reuters, most of the ill-gotten funds were used by the Reconnaissance General Bureau – a top North Korean military intelligence agency – to fund the country’s development of mass destruction weapons.
“Democratic People’s Republic of Korea cyber actors, many operating under the direction of the Reconnaissance General Bureau, raise money for its WMD (weapons of mass destruction) programs, with total proceeds to date estimated at up to two billion US dollars.”
The report also specifically accused North Korea of money laundering claiming that
“[North Korea] used cyberspace to launch increasingly sophisticated attacks to steal funds from financial institutions and cryptocurrency exchanges to generate income.”
The report was submitted last week and the United Nations officially reached out to the North Korean mission for a comment on the report. So far, no response has been gotten.
North Korea Has Been Named Before
North Korea has been accused in the past of targeting South Korean exchanges. Also, back in May, the FBI deputy assistant director for its cyber division, Tonya Ugoretz, accused North Korea of launching cyberattacks through cryptocurrency, as a way to circumvent sanctions from the other countries.
Now, the Bureau adds:
“We call upon all responsible states to take action to counter North Korea’s ability to conduct malicious cyber activity, which generates revenue that supports its unlawful WMD and ballistic missile programs.”
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