North Korea steals billions in cryptocurrency to fund development of nuclear weapons

North Korean hackers have swindled billions of dollars by infiltrating cryptocurrency exchanges and fabricating identities to fund the research and development of nuclear weapons, says a new report.

Hackers managed to secure remote tech jobs at overseas companies, then used malware designed to disrupt networks and steal sensitive data, as per an international report on North Korea's cyber capabilities.

Pyongyang officials masterminded the covert operations, discovered the authors of the 138-page report. The review was published by the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team, a group comprising the U.S. and 10 allies, established last year to monitor North Korea's adherence to U.N. sanctions.

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The report also revealed that North Korea has utilized cryptocurrency to launder money and procure military supplies, thereby dodging international sanctions linked to its nuclear program. It outlined how hackers employed by North Korea have targeted foreign businesses and organizations with malware intended to disrupt networks and pilfer sensitive data.

Despite its diminutive size and isolation, North Korea has heavily invested in aggressive cyber capabilities and now rivals China and Russia in terms of the sophistication and abilities of its hackers, posing a significant threat to foreign governments, businesses, and individuals, concluded the investigators.

Unlike China, Russia, and Iran, North Korea has concentrated much of its cyber capabilities to finance its government, using cyberattacks and counterfeit workers to steal from and defraud companies and organizations elsewhere in the world.

Aided in part by allies in Russia and China, North Korea's cyber actions have "been directly linked to the destruction of physical computer equipment, endangerment of human lives, private citizens' loss of assets and property, and funding for the DPRK's unlawful weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs," the report said, using the acronym for North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

The monitoring group is comprised of the U.S., Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, South Korea and the United Kingdom. It was established last year after Russia blocked a resolution directing a U.N. Security Council panel of experts to monitor Pyongyang's activities.

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The team's initial report, released in May, examined North Korea's military support for Russia.

Earlier this year, hackers connected to North Korea executed one of the largest cryptocurrency thefts ever, pilfering $1.5 billion worth of ethereum from Bybit. The FBI subsequently connected the theft to a group of hackers operating for the North Korean intelligence service.

Federal authorities also have claimed that thousands of IT workers employed by U.S. companies were actually North Koreans using false identities to secure remote work. The workers obtained access to internal systems and channeled their salaries back to North Korea's government.

In some cases, the workers maintained several remote jobs simultaneously. A message that was left with North Korea's mission to the United Nations did not receive an immediate response on Wednesday.