North Korean-Linked Hackers on a Rampage: 20 Cyberattacks in 2023, $1 Billion Looted

Hackers linked to North Korea were involved in a record-breaking 20 hacking incidents last year. However, the total value of the stolen virtual assets was $1 billion, a decrease compared to the all-time high of $1.7 billion in 2022.

On the 25th, Chainalysis, a blockchain data analysis company (Korean branch president Baek Yong Ki), reported this in their “2024 Virtual Asset Crime Report: Stolen Funds.”

Last year, hacking groups associated with North Korea diversified their targets, attacking various platforms.

They stole about $428.8 million from DeFi platforms, $150 million from centralized services, $330.9 million from exchanges, and $127 million from wallet providers.

Not only by North Korea but overall, stolen funds sharply decreased last year.

The total value of virtual assets stolen last year decreased by 54.3% to $1 billion compared to the previous year. Chainalysis analyzed that the primary cause was a 63.7% decrease in DeFi hacking. The scale of total funds that could be stolen decreased due to the development of security protocols within DeFi platforms and a slowdown in DeFi market activities.

However, despite the overall decrease, significant breaches occurred, such as a loss of $197 million at Euler Finance and a theft of $73.5 million at Curve Finance.

Also, according to a joint investigation with blockchain solution security company Halborn, hackers continue to exploit on-chain and off-chain vulnerabilities. Most of last year’s decentralized finance hacking originated from on-chain vulnerabilities such as smart contract attacks and price manipulation hacking. In contrast, off-chain attacks were often related to private key damages and insider attacks.

Chainalysis positively evaluated that the total value of stolen funds decreases as the efficiency of security measures and response strategies implemented by virtual asset platforms increases. This trend is predicted to be further strengthened as the cooperation between virtual asset platforms, security experts, and law enforcement agencies to track and recover stolen funds strengthens.