NORTH KOREA continues to develop its missile program using stolen crypto funds, according to a new UN report.
A new United Nations report submitted Friday to the Security Council North Korea Sanctions Committee says that North Korea is using funds obtained illegally through cybercrime to back its missile program.
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“Cyberattacks, particularly on cryptocurrency assets, remain an important revenue source” for North Korea’s government, according to the new report, which was obtained by Reuters.
In 2020, theft through cybercrime accounted for a total of 8% of North Korea’s estimated economy, according to the Bank of Korea in Seoul.
And in 2019, the UN sanctions monitors reported that North Korea had raked in around $2 billion for its weapons of mass destruction programs using cyberattacks.
Despite North Korea having been long banned from conducting nuclear tests by the UN security council, the panel of UN experts has actually found a “marked acceleration” of such activity in January.
“Maintenance and development of [North Korea’s] nuclear and ballistic missile infrastructure continued, and [North Korea] continued to seek material, technology, and know-how for these programs overseas, including through cyber means and joint scientific research,” the report said.
The United States and others noted last week that North Korea had carried out nine ballistic missile launches in January, which is the most in a single month so far for the country.
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North Korea also reported last month that it currently possesses a nuclear-capable missile that can reach US territory, particularly Guam.
North Korea’s economy is currently the worst it has been in two decades after being inundated with sanctions over nuclear and ballistic missile testing since 2006.
As an attempt to evade the limitations of the imposed sanctions, North Korea has resorted to its cyber army of hackers to grow its GDP.
“According to a member state, [North Korean] cyberactors stole more than $50 million between 2020 and mid-2021 from at least three cryptocurrency exchanges in North America, Europe and Asia,” the report said.
In another instance, the cyber army attempted to steal $2 billion from the Swift (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) system of financial transactions, according to Bloomberg.
North Korea also created a fraudulent cryptocurrency trading platform that actually steals money from its users.
The malware, called AppleJeus, has brought in at least $316.4 million for Kim Jong Un’s regime, which recently marked 10 years.
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In other news, Nasa has upgraded its asteroid hazard software with some key changes that should help it better detect potentially dangerous space rocks.
Nasa has revealed stunning footage of a solar flare in action.
And, the US space agency is planning for a ‘golden asteroid’ probing mission to launch this summer.
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