More than five billion crowns were stolen through a computer game. The “cyber warriors” of the North Korean regime must stand behind them.
According to the US Department of the Treasury, the famous North Korean hacker group “Lazarus” managed to hack the software used to transfer the so-called cryptocurrency to the computer game “Axie Infinity”. It’s the BBC reports.
The game allows players to buy and sell virtual items – and consider this as a win in cryptocurrency, thus earning real money.
Hacking has been referred to as “The Greatest Crypto Theft of All Time”. It is now clear that North Korea is behind it – a system that, according to experts, makes a living largely from what they could earn from illegal activities abroad.
North Korean hackers are said to have kidnapped $600 million, equivalent to more than five billion Norwegian kroner. They must have already transferred over 700 million unknowns from their accounts before they were discovered.
The Treasury is now working with the FBI to find out where the money has gone, Bloomberg reports.
Previously, the “Lazarus” group was behind similar digital dividers. In 2014, they hacked Sony Pictures, leaking films, emails and personal data of 4,000 employees – in retaliation for the movie “The Dictator”, which mocked Kim Jong-un.
In 2016, they went even further, when they were able to hack the central bank of Bangladesh via printers in the office, and used Swift’s international system to transfer $1 billion into their own account.
In a Bangladesh breach, a New York bank halted $850 million through which the money was transferred.
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