A security expert is urging greater unity in the global effort to combat the North's cyberattacks amid rising concern that the country's IT workers are helping the regime steal billions in cryptocurrency.
Last month, the UN panel released a report examining sanctions against North Korea from January through July. It shows the North's theft of cryptocurrency hit a record high last year. The report says an estimated 1.7 billion dollars in cryptocurrency was stolen from companies around the world in 2022.
Security specialist Takeuchi Maiko, a former member of the UN panel, says North Korea's success in online crime is helping the country fund its missile and nuclear weapons programs.
The UN report says IT workers, such as system developers in various countries, may be involved in the North Korean cyberattacks.
North Korean IT workers with high-level programming skills are said to be pretending to be with companies outside North Korea.
The report points out that the IT workers may have created backdoors to computer systems of companies in order to allow attacks.
It also says that North Korean IT workers have allegedly used the access authority they gained when they took jobs as freelancers to conduct cyberattacks. It also said that such vulnerabilities have been exploited to steal crypto-assets.
Takeuchi also cited cases in which North Korean IT engineers were involved in the development of smartphone apps in Japan.
She says it was previously thought that there was no collaboration between North Korean IT workers and hackers as they belong to different organizations in the country. She points out that it is relatively easy to falsify information because IT can be conducted online.
She says financial authorities around the world must step up their efforts to crackdown on such cybercrimes.
IT workers allegedly hidden in third countries
The report also suggests that North Korean IT workers are involved in cyberattacks while hiding in Russia, China, and specific third countries in Southeast Asia that are said to have relatively friendly ties with Pyongyang.
The report says a company related to the munitions industry department of the North's Workers' Party is reportedly based in Laos. The company apparently supports North Korean IT workers seeking office space and accommodation in the country.
The report also said that about 10 North Korean IT workers moved from the Middle East to Laos, where they had stayed until this year.
Backing from China and Russia
North Korea is said to be engaged in money laundering of crypto-assets stolen in cyberattacks.
The report revealed it has information that a North Korean national, who was prosecuted by the United States this year for money laundering of crypto-assets, is in China.
In response to an interview by the expert panel, China said it "did not find any illegal cyber financial activities by the relevant individuals within Chinese border." But the expert panel says it will continue to investigate the matter.
A US blockchain analytics firm recently reported that North Korea earlier this year transferred 21.9 million dollars in stolen crypto-assets to a Russian exchange.
Takeuchi Maiko said that not only Russia, but also third countries with lax regulations, could be used for money laundering. She said the UN report calls on countries to actively report to them, but added the panel of experts alone can't monitor everything. She said it is important for relevant countries, including Japan, the US and South Korea, to actively take the lead in making crypto-asset transactions more transparent.