North Korea: Missile programme funded through stolen crypto, UN report says

PYONGYANG, 07 February 2022, (TON): A UN report briefed to media said “North Korean cyber-attacks have stolen millions of dollars worth of cryptocurrency to fund the country's missile programmes.”

Between 2020 and mid-2021 cyber-attackers stole more than $50m (£37m) of digital assets, investigators found.

They said “such attacks are an important revenue source for Pyongyang's nuclear and ballistic missile programme.”

The findings were reportedly handed to the UN's sanctions committee.

The cyber-attacks targeted at least three cryptocurrency exchanges in North America, Europe and Asia.

The report also referenced a study published last month by the security firm Chainalysis that suggested North Korean cyberattacks could have netted as much as $400m worth of digital assets last year.

And in 2019, the UN reported that North Korea had accumulated an estimated $2bn for its weapons of mass destruction programmes by using sophisticated cyber-attacks.

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