South Korean authorities have confirmed that North Korean hackers were responsible for the $50 million Upbit cryptocurrency attack in November 2019.
On November 21, the National Investigation Office of South Korea reported that the North Korean hacker groups Lazarus and Andariel were the culprits in the attack, stealing 342K Ether (ETH).
Upbit, a cryptocurrency exchange in South Korea, reported on November 27, 2019, that 342K ETH had been stolen from their hot wallet. At the time of the theft, each ETH was valued at approximately $147, bringing the total stolen amount to around $50 million.
The value of Ether at the time of the Upbit attack. Source: CoinGecko.
With the recent price increase of Ether along with Bitcoin (BTC), the stolen amount is now estimated to exceed $1 billion.
North Korean police confirm attacker after five years.
News from South Korea's Yonhap reported that this is the first time a South Korean investigation agency has officially confirmed North Korean involvement in a cryptocurrency attack.
According to reports, authorities have confirmed North Korea's involvement by tracking cryptocurrency flows and IP addresses. They also analyzed the use of North Korean language and documents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Although police confirmed North Korea's involvement, they withheld details about the hackers' methods to prevent other copycat attacks.
Since the security breach occurred, the attackers are believed to have sold approximately 57% of the stolen ETH on exchanges reportedly operated by North Koreans. The remaining amount has been distributed and laundered through 51 foreign exchanges.
South Korea investigates Upbit for KYC violations.
The confirmation of North Korea's involvement in the 2019 Upbit attack came after a recent investigation into this cryptocurrency exchange.
On November 14, the Financial Intelligence Unit of the Financial Services Commission detected between 500K and 600K potential violations of the exchange's Know Your Customer feature.
The FIU detected these violations while reviewing Upbit's business license renewal. The exchange is accused of accepting blurred identity cards, making it difficult for regulators to accurately identify users.
These violations could lead to fines of up to $71,500 per case and complicate the business license renewal of the exchange.
Follow me @TinTucBitcoin #tintucbitcoin #Write2Win #btc #binance #binance
