North Korea Signals Closer BRICS Relations Amid Growing Russia Ties

North Korea may be ramping up efforts to align itself with the BRICS economic bloc, as its top diplomat skipped the United Nations General Assembly in favor of a BRICS-related event. Analysts suggest that while Kim Jong-un seeks to break diplomatic isolation through such alliances, North Korea’s sanctions and economic constraints make membership unlikely. Recent … Read more

FBI Issues Alert Concerning Malicious State-Sponsored North Korean Hackers Targeting Crypto Firms

On April 18, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the U.S. Treasury Department, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) published a Cybersecurity Advisory (CSA) report concerning malicious North Korean state-sponsored cryptocurrency activity. According to the U.S. government, law enforcement officials have observed North Korean cyber actors targeting specific blockchain companies in the industry. … Read more

OFAC Update Claims Ronin Hack Is Tethered to North Korea’s Hacker Syndicate Lazarus Group

According to the U.S. Treasury and the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the recent Ronin bridge hack may have been tied to the North Korean hacker syndicate called Lazarus Group. Federal law enforcement officials have tied the flagged ethereum address connected with the Ronin bridge exploit to the group of hackers and added the … Read more

3 Reports Look at North Korea’s Lazarus Group, Iran’s Farhad Exchange, and the Crypto Ponzi Futurenet

On May 4, 2020, the blockchain surveillance firm Chainalysis published a three-part series covering a crypto Ponzi scheme, North Korea, and Iran’s use of digital currencies like bitcoin. The company’s research papers discuss the Poland-based crypto Ponzi called Futurenet, a hosting service allegedly tied to North Korea, and how Iran-based exchanges are bypassing OFAC sanctions … Read more

Intelligence: Pyongyang Trying to Steal Cryptos before Pyeongchang Olympics

Despite some cracks on the icy surface of inter-Korean relations, caused by the Olympic spirit, tensions on the silent crypto front in Korea remain high. South Korean intelligence has informed lawmakers in Seoul that the North keeps trying to hack cryptocurrency exchanges south of the DMZ. Cryptos worth billions of won have been stolen by … Read more