JAKARTA - According to a new report published by South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS), North Korean hackers have stolen more than 800 billion Korean won (Rp 968 billion) worth of cryptocurrencies from decentralized financial platforms, or DeFi, this year.
NIS also revealed that it blocked an average daily 1.18 million attacks carried out by national and international hacking organizations in November.
However, a NIS spokesman revealed through local news outlet Kyunghyang Shinmun that all 800 billion won stolen by North Korean hackers through DeFi's exploitation took place abroad.
"In Korea, virtual asset transactions have been transferred to real-name and security transactions have been strengthened, so there is no damage," said the NIS spokesman, quoted by Cointelegraph.
In 2021, South Korea will implement a new regulation of trading in your Customer Identity cryptocurrency (KYC) which requires clients to create real name accounts with the same bank as their cryptocurrency exchange to deposit or withdraw funds.
Both banks and exchanges were then asked to verify the client's identity. In addition, the exchange must obtain a license from the Financial Services Commission before starting operations.
North Korea's hacker syndicates, such as the Lazarus Group, have been linked with a number of high-level DeFi offenses this year, including a $100 million Harmony attack. Experts say such attacks are a means to generate foreign currency reserves in the face of strict commercial sanctions imposed by the international community.
NIS also warned that North Korea's cyberattacks will increase next year. It is important to analyze attacks as close as a defense. Because one hacker organization has all the information of the attack and doesn't forget it. It is important to gather information related to malicious codes spread by various attackers to find meaningful insights," NIS said.
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