FBI blames North Korea for $100 million crypto heist

Washington CNN  — 

The FBI on Monday night blamed North Korean government-linked hackers for stealing $100 million in cryptocurrency final June from a California-based agency.

The North Korean operatives this month laundered over $60 million of the cash stolen within the June hack, in accordance with the FBI assertion. The bureau mentioned “a portion” of the $60 million was frozen, however didn’t specify how a lot.

It’s one among a collection of digital heists that US officers fear Pyongyang will use to fund its illicit nuclear and ballistic weapons program. North Korean hackers have stolen the equal of billions of {dollars} in recent times by raiding cryptocurrency exchanges, in accordance with the United Nations.

Within the June hack, the intruders focused a “bridge” – or a program that enables for the switch of cryptocurrency – run by Concord, a California-based cryptocurrency agency.

Along with hacking cryptocurrency companies, suspected North Koreans have posed as different nationalities to use for work at such companies and ship a refund to Pyongyang, US companies have publicly warned. A CNN investigation discovered no less than one cryptocurrency entrepreneur who unwittingly paid a North Korean tech employee tens of hundreds of {dollars}.

Regardless of the plummeting of the worth of cryptocurrency final yr, the suspected North Korean hacks of digital foreign money belongings have continued. The FBI final April blamed North Korean government-backed hackers for a roughly $600-million hack of in style online game firm.