The licensed cryptocurrency exchange in Japan, DMM Bitcoin, was hacked in May of this year, resulting in the theft of 4,502.9 bitcoins. The Japanese National Police Agency stated on the 24th that, after an investigation in collaboration with the FBI and the U.S. Department of Defense Cyber Crime Center (DC3), it was confirmed that this theft was carried out by the North Korean hacker organization Lazarus Group's Trader Traitor. (Background: After 4,500 bitcoins were stolen) The Japanese exchange DMM Bitcoin ceased operations, and its assets will be transferred to the SBI Group. (Supplementary background: 4,502 BTC stolen, but not afraid) DMM plans to raise funds/borrow 55 billion yen for compensation; who is the mysterious AV godfather behind this? DMM Bitcoin was attacked by hackers in May of this year, resulting in the theft of 4,502.9 bitcoins, which at that time was worth 320 million USD. The attack severely impacted DMM Bitcoin, and although it later raised 55 billion yen to compensate customers, it decided to abandon its restructuring plan as it could not continue to provide sufficient services to customers. DMM Bitcoin announced at the beginning of the month that it would cease operations and plans to transfer customer accounts and custodial assets to SBI Group's cryptocurrency exchange SBI VC Trade by March next year. SBI VC Trade will take over DMM Bitcoin's existing 14 types of cryptocurrency spot trading services. The hack was carried out by a North Korean hacker organization. Regarding the theft of 4,502.9 bitcoins, according to CoinDesk, the Japanese National Police Agency stated on the 24th that, after collaborating with the FBI and the U.S. Department of Defense Cyber Crime Center (DC3), it confirmed that the perpetrators of this theft were from the hacker organization Trader Traitor, which is under the North Korean hacker organization Lazarus Group. According to the Japanese National Police Agency's explanation, the hacking attack was executed in multiple stages. By the end of March 2024, the criminal group first impersonated corporate recruiters on LinkedIn and contacted employees of Ginco, a software development company commissioned by DMM Bitcoin to manage cryptocurrency asset trading. The criminal group pretended to conduct recruitment tests and sent links to malicious websites. When employees clicked on those links, their accounts were taken over by the hackers. The group then used this as a foothold to invade Ginco's internal systems, subsequently manipulating DMM Bitcoin's trading programs to transfer customer assets to another address managed by the group. The Japanese National Police Agency stated that it will continue to cooperate with the FBI, other U.S. government agencies, and international partners to investigate the illegal activities of North Korean hackers, including cyber crimes and cryptocurrency theft incidents. Meanwhile, the Japanese National Police Agency, the Cabinet Cyber Security Center, and the Financial Services Agency have documents regarding the tactics and countermeasures against hacker organizations, urging cryptocurrency-related companies to be cautious. It is noteworthy that North Korean hackers accounted for over 60% of the total stolen cryptocurrency this year. In recent years, cryptocurrency theft incidents have been frequent, with North Korean hacker organizations becoming the largest criminal group. Chainalysis reported on the 19th that hackers globally stole $2.2 billion worth of cryptocurrency this year, with North Korean hackers stealing $1.34 billion, accounting for 61% of the total stolen cryptocurrency this year. Related reports: The seventh largest in history! DMM Bitcoin was hacked for 4,502 bitcoins; the Japanese Financial Services Agency calls for a thorough investigation and compensation plan. Nightmare repeats! Japan's DMM Bitcoin exchange was hacked for 4,503 bitcoins, with losses exceeding 48 billion yen. Japanese e-commerce giant DMM builds the first chain game on Oasys, 'Corporate☆Girl' to be reborn in Web3 in Q2 next year. "The truth behind the DMM Bitcoin theft: North Korean hackers' social engineering attack to steal 4,502 bitcoins revealed" was first published in BlockTempo (the most influential blockchain news media).