As the popularity and value of cryptocurrency escalate, so does the incidence of theft. This year, the overall value of stolen cryptocurrency soared by 21%, amounting to a staggering $2.2 billion. A recent Chainalysis report published on Thursday reveals that over half of this sum was taken by hacking groups associated with North Korea.
Earlier this year, the United Nations Security Council reported that North Korean hackers pilfered $3 billion in cryptocurrency between 2017 and 2023. In 2024 alone, hackers with ties to North Korea were responsible for 61% of the total thefts, equating to $1.34 billion across 47 incidents, according to the Chainalysis report.
The Geopolitical Context
According to the report, the majority of cryptocurrency hacks occurred from January to July this year; during this span, the stolen amount surpassed $1.58 billion, reflecting an increase of 84.4% compared to the same period in 2023.
However, incidents of hacking saw a notable decline after July, which may be linked to geopolitical developments. Chainalysis suggests this drop correlates with North Korea’s strengthening ties to Russia, following a summit between Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin in June.
Post-summit, the volume of cryptocurrency hacked by New Korea-affiliated groups fell by 53.73%, as per Chainalysis. This may indicate a strategic shift in North Korea’s cybercrime methods as it deepens its cooperation with Russia, the report observes.
A Call for Enhanced Security
The threat of crypto hacking remains significant, with over $1 billion in cryptocurrency stolen across four different years in the last decade: $1.5 billion in 2018, $3.3 billion in 2021, $3.7 billion in 2022, and $1.8 billion in 2023.
Decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms that neglect essential security measures have faced the brunt of these hacks over the past three years, leading in stolen assets in the first quarter of 2024. Conversely, in the second and third quarters of 2024, centralized services became the primary focus of hacker attacks.
Significant attacks on centralized services in 2024 included DMM Bitcoin, a Japanese exchange, which lost $305 million (approximately 48 billion yen) to hackers, and WazirX, an Indian exchange, which suspended withdrawals in July due to a hack attributed to North Korean cybercriminals, resulting in an estimated loss of $235 million.
Compiled by Techarena.au.
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