North Korea stole $2 billion from banks and crypto exchanges

North Korea has stolen an estimated $2 billion through digital break-ins at banks and crypto exchanges. That’s according to a confidential report from the United Nations that Reuters has seen.

According to Reuters, the report states that North Korea’s attack methods are widespread and increasingly sophisticated. The North Korean regime also allegedly laundered stolen money and cryptocurrencies on the internet. The money will be used to fund the development of nuclear weapons, the report said.

It is not clear which crypto exchanges and banks have all been victims of North Korean attacks. Experts would write in the report that there have been at least 35 attacks in 17 countries involving North Korea.

Security firms have made more frequent reports of North Korean-affiliated groups carrying out attacks on financial institutions in recent years. The Lazarus group is said to have attacked a Taiwanese bank in 2017 and is also believed to be behind an attack on Bangladesh’s central bank.

At the end of last year, security firm Group-IB made an overview of alleged proceeds of attacks on crypto exchanges. Lazarus emerged as the winner in that overview, with a revenue of 571 million dollars.