A confidential report by the United Nations (UN) revealed that hackers linked to North Korea have stolen more than $1 billion in crypto assets throughout 2022, which is more than any other year. The UN report added that the cyber attacks have become more sophisticated, which means that tracing stolen funds is as hard as ever.

According to the report, North Korea exploited foreign aerospace and defense companies, and “used increasingly sophisticated cyber techniques both to gain access to digital networks involved in cyber finance, and to steal information of potential value, including to its weapons programmes.”

A study conducted by Chainalysis shows that North Korean hackers stole a mere $428.8 million in crypto assets in 2021, nearly $300 million the year before and $271.1 million in 2019. The all-time high recorded in 2018 of $522.3 billion has more than tripled in 2022, with stolen funds amounting to $1.65 billion.

Sources:

https://cointelegraph.com/news/north-korea-stole-more-crypto-in-2022-than-any-other-year-un-report

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-64494094