This is the year of the computer hacker anthology. And much more for the North Korean-linked hackers who stole $1.7 billion (€1.5 billion) in cryptocurrencies in 2022, according to industry analytics firm Chainalysis, according to the BBC.
This is four times more than in 2021, when North Korean hackers pocketed $421 million. “This mining alone accounts for 44% of the $3.8 billion stolen in cryptocurrencies in 2022, the ‘record year in the history of cryptocurrency hacking’, according to firm Chainalysis,” British public media noted.
Pyongyang has developed a computer hack “to finance its nuclear arsenal,” the site recalls. The most closed regime in the world has increased the number of nuclear tests and ballistic missile launches in 2022, “and this despite the country’s economic difficulties.”
Exports reached $142 million in 2020. “It would not be an exaggeration to say that cryptocurrency piracy makes up a significant part of the country’s economy,” Chainalysis notes in its report published on Wednesday.