Fun

ZachXBT claims 21 North Korea crypto devs are making $500K a month

News Feed - 2024-08-16 10:08:53

Stephen Katte7 hours agoZachXBT claims 21 North Korea crypto devs are making $500K a monthOnchain sleuth ZachXBT claims to have found a network of North Korean developers who have been working on dozens of crypto projects.1411 Total views21 Total sharesListen to article 0:00NewsOwn this piece of crypto historyCollect this article as NFTCOINTELEGRAPH IN YOUR SOCIAL FEEDFollow ourSubscribe onBlockchain investigator ZachXBT says he’s uncovered evidence of a sophisticated network of North Korean developers that earn as much as $500,000 a month working for “established” crypto projects.


In an Aug. 15 post on X, ZachXBT informed his 618,000 followers he believes a “single entity in Asia,” likely operating out of North Korea, is receiving $300,000 to $500,000 per month employing at least 21 workers to over 25 crypto projects.Blockchain researcher ZachXBT claims to have found that 21 North Koreans using fake identities are working on dozens of crypto projects. Source: ZachXBT


“Recently a team reached out to me for assistance after $1.3M was stolen from the treasury after malicious code had been pushed,” ZachXBT said. “Unbeknownst to the team they had hired multiple DPRK IT workers as devs who were using fake identities.”


ZachXBT alleges that the latest $1.3 million stolen by DPRK workers was laundered through a sequence of transactions, including transferring to a theft address and ending with 16.5 Ether (ETH) going to two different exchanges.


After further investigation into these devs, ZachXBT believes they are part of a much more extensive network.


Tracking multiple payment addresses, he found a cluster of developers receiving “$375,000 over the last month,” and previous transactions totaling $5.5 million, which flowed into an exchange deposit address from July 2023 to some time in 2024.


Related:ZachXBT flags Lazarus-linked addresses worth $61M


These payments were then linked to IT workers in North Korea, and an individual Sim Hyon Sop — who has been sanctioned by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) for allegedly coordinating financial transfers that eventually ended up supporting North Korea’s weapons programs.A cluster of developersZachXBTbelieves to be North Koreans using fake identities have received $375,000 over the last month. Source: ZachXBT


ZachXBT says his investigation uncovered other payment addresses were closely linked to another OFAC-sanctioned individual, Sang Man Kim, who has been linked to DPRK-related cybercrime in the past. 


US law enforcement believes Kim is “involved in the payment of salaries to family members of Chinyong’s overseas DPRK worker delegations” and receiving $2 million in crypto for selling IT equipment to DPRK-affiliated teams in China and Russia.


ZachXBT also found instances of Russian Telecom IP overlaps among developers who claimed to be based in the United States and Malaysia. At least one of the workers “accidentally leaked their other identities on a notepad.”


Some of the devs he found were even placed by recruitment companies and in some cases, referred each other for work.


“A number of experienced teams have hired these devs so it’s not fair to them single as the ones to blame,” ZachXBT said. “Shortly after posting another project found out they had hired one of the DPRK IT worker (Naoki Murano) listed in my table and shared my post in their chat. Immediately within two minutes, Naoki left the chat and wiped his GitHub.”


Organizations linked to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) are believed to be behind more than a few cyber attacks and other scams over the years. Its cybercrime modus operandi generally involves phishing, exploiting software flaws, cyber intrusions, private key exploits and in-person infiltration. It is understood some also work these jobs to generate a salary which is then sent back to the country. 


In 2022, the US Departments of Justice, State and Treasury issued a joint advisory warning about the influx of North Korean workers into various freelance tech jobs, especially crypto.


Arguably, the most infamous group linked to the hermit kingdom, the Lazarus Group, reportedly stole over $3 billion in crypto assets in the six years leading up to 2023.


Magazine:AI may already use more power than Bitcoin — and it threatens Bitcoin mining# Blockchain# North Korea# InvestigationAdd reaction

News Feed

Canadian regulators are looking to investor protection with stablecoin rules — CIRO
Turner Wright2 hours agoCanadian regulators are looking to investor protection with stablecoin rules — CIROCIRO executive Suzanne Lasrado offered her opinion on the regulatory guidelines affecting Canadian stablecoin u
Kazakhstan Expects $1.5 Billion From Crypto Mining in 5 Years, Estimates Suggest
Kazakhstan Expects $1.5 Billion From Crypto Mining in 5 Years, Estimates Suggest Crypto miners now bring more than $230 million into the economy of Kazakhstan each year and estimat
Ukrainian Steals Bitcoin From Russian Darknet Market, Donates to Charity
Ukrainian Steals Bitcoin From Russian Darknet Market, Donates to Charity A Ukrainian living in the U.S. has reportedly hacked a major drug market on the Russian dark web, diverting
Chainalysis alerts rise in crypto hacks and ransom in 2024
Helen Partz11 hours agoChainalysis alerts rise in crypto hacks and ransom in 2024Cryptocurrency hackers have been returning to their roots to targeting centralized exchanges amid a spike in the Bitcoin price in 2024.948
The Bull and Bear Case for Investing in the Top 20 Cryptocurrencies
The Bull and Bear Case for Investing in the Top 20 Cryptocurrencies Should you buy bitcoin or bitcoin cash? Does tezos have further room to grow? Is monero a long-term hold? Ther
Derek Andersen3 hours agoDigital euro can ward off a host of private payment service ills: ECB officialPrivate payment services can gain a monopoly with no benefit to other market players or economic stability, ECB board
Tom Mitchelhill8 hours agoEthereum futures ETFs garner lukewarm reception on first day of tradingDay one trading volume across all nine products stood at less than $2 million.2798 Total views15 Total sharesListen to arti
Savannah Fortis13 hours agoEU mulls more restrictive regulations for large AI models: ReportNegotiators in the EU are reportedly considering additional restrictions for large AI models, such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT-4, as a
NFT Economy Grows Exponential: $1M in Non-Fungible Token Sales Last Week
NFT Economy Grows Exponential: $1M in Non-Fungible Token Sales Last WeekWhile a number of people are focused on decentralized finance (defi), the non-fungible token (NFT) industry h
Brian Nibley4 hours agoA no-fail trade? Bitcoin traders who dollar-cost average are profitableInvestors who have dollar-cost averaged into Bitcoin over time are profitable regardless of when they began implementing the s
Dubai Is Preparing to Take Its Government to the Metaverse
Dubai Is Preparing to Take Its Government to the Metaverse The Government of Dubai is preparing to make part of its offices available in the metaverse, according to reports. The co
ECB Favors Transparency Over Privacy in Digital Euro Design, Presentation Reveals
ECB Favors Transparency Over Privacy in Digital Euro Design, Presentation Reveals The European Central Bank (ECB) leans toward a “transparent” digital euro over one t