A South Korean crypto trade worker was sentenced to 4 years in jail for making an attempt to recruit a navy officer to promote labeled secrets and techniques to North Korea in trade for Bitcoin, the Supreme Court docket dominated on December 28.
The ruling additionally imposes a four-year ban on the worker from monetary sector actions.
Court docket paperwork revealed that North Korean hackers paid the trade staffer $487,000 in Bitcoin to recruit a 30-year-old military captain, who obtained $33,500 in Bitcoin in return, in keeping with the South Korean media outlet Dailian.
The staffer approached the officer via a Telegram chat, providing cryptocurrency for entry to delicate navy information.
The staffer despatched a watch-shaped hidden digicam and a USB “hacking system” to the captain beneath hacker directions. These units had been meant to seize and transmit info from the Korean Joint Command and Management System, a platform used to share intelligence between the U.S. and South Korea.
Navy police intercepted the units earlier than any breach occurred.
“The defendant will need to have been conscious that he was making an attempt to uncover navy secrets and techniques for a rustic hostile to South Korea,” the decide mentioned. “This crime might have endangered your complete nation and was dedicated for private monetary achieve.”
The captain, surnamed Kim, was sentenced to 10 years in jail and fined $35,000 for violating the Navy Secrets and techniques Safety Act.
DLNews reporting helped with this text.
North Korea’s crypto exploits
The U.S. Treasury Division on November 4, sanctioned eight people and two entities linked to North Korea’s cybercrime operations, focusing on the movement of cryptocurrency stolen by DPRK hackers.
Over the previous three years, North Korea-affiliated cybercriminals have stolen greater than $3 billion, primarily in digital property, utilizing malware, ransomware, and social engineering to assault banks, exchanges, and different platforms.
The Treasury mentioned the funds assist finance Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons and missile applications.
Amongst these sanctioned had been bankers Jang Kuk Chol and Ho Jong Son, who managed over $5.3 million in cryptocurrency tied to ransomware assaults and DPRK IT employees overseas. Korea Mangyongdae Pc Know-how Corp., which runs abroad IT delegations, and its president U Yong Su, had been additionally focused, alongside Ryujong Credit score Financial institution in Pyongyang and 5 DPRK banking representatives in China and Russia for laundering tens of millions in world currencies.
In September 2024, the FBI issued a warning that North Korean hackers had been focusing on U.S. cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in an try to steal digital property.
In response to the company, the attackers are using subtle social engineering methods to infiltrate corporations linked to those monetary merchandise.
