45% Crypto hack attacks in 2022 were linked to North Korea: Report

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Reportedly half of the Crypto hack & theft attacks in the Crypto market were found linked with Korean hackers.

North Korea is an independent country but the citizens of North Korea are not living their lives in freedom because there is a dictatorship ruling system. Since 2011, Kim Jong-un has ruled this country. The internet service in Korea is available to common citizens but in a restrictive manner, where the government isolates North Korea from the world’ actual Internet service. Usually common Korean citizens don’t show significant interest in cryptocurrencies but the government agencies in Korea are aware of the potential of Bitcoin & they are using it for cross-border payment to power up the country with weapons.

Recently Crypto analytic platform Chainalysis published a report on the total hack attacks in the crypto market in 2022 and noted that hackers secured approximately $3.8 billion worth of crypto assets. 

Between March to October of last year, the hack attacks on the crypto platforms were at their peak. Nearly 55 separate hacks, totaling $1.4 billion, in 2022. November and February followed closely at $531 million and $430 million, respectively. 

The investigation found that 45% of these attacks were linked to South Korean hackers & groups. This means, South Korean hackers made $1.7 billion, which is a net increase over Crypto 2021. In 2021, Korean hackers stole nearly $1.2 billion worth of crypto assets. 

It is worth noting that hackers mainly targeted the Defi protocols or cross-chain protocols in 2022. Last year, hackers made $3.1 billion via only hack attacks on Defi platforms. In short, 82% of revenue for the hackers came from the Defi sector. 

In 2022, The US authority OFCA imposed a ban on the use of the Crypto mixing platform Tornado Cash. Many dominant Crypto personalities slammed the Tornado Cash ban decision but still, the OFCA agency never changed the decision. To this date, US-based people are using another Tornado Cash-like platform “Sinbad”.

Read also: Defi protocol CoW swap faced a hack attack, lost $180k