North Korean crypto theft reaches record high

North Korean hackers have stolen $630 million in cryptocurrency assets in 2022, the highest on record, reports Reuters. Sophisticated techniques have been leveraged by North Korean threat actors to facilitate the record-high theft of virtual assets, which are being allocated toward its nuclear weapons programs, according to a United Nations report. Such a figure comes after a cybersecurity firm earlier reported that more than $1 billion in cryptocurrency have been stolen by North Koreans last year. "The variation in USD value of cryptocurrency in recent months is likely to have affected these estimates, but both show that 2022 was a record-breaking year for DPRK (North Korea) virtual asset theft," said the U.N. report. Meanwhile, most cryptocurrency-targeted cyberattacks were found to be associated with the Kimsuky, Andariel, and Lazarus Group operations, which are being controlled by the primary intelligence bureau of North Korea. "These actors continued illicitly to target victims to generate revenue and solicit information of value to the DPRK including its weapons programs," the U.N. said.