North Korea Accused of Hacking South Korean Exchanges


Method of Attack and Accusations of North Korean Hacking
The police stated that the attack methodology was a “spear phishing” attack. North Korean hackers pretended to be government authorities and servicemen. A story published by Silicon Angle states that the hackers targeted exchange workers by sending them emails loaded with malware. A Fire Eye Inc. report confirmed reports of the cyber attacks. The company tracked North Korean hackers and noted their activity. They observed that North Korean hackers targeted three different exchanges in South Korea. Silicon Angle details previous instances of North Korean hacking:South Korean bitcoin exchanges have been successfully hacked in the past, with potentially millions being stolen from Bithumb in July. North Korea hasn’t been directly linked to the hack but it is possible the country played a role in it, even if it’s more likely to be an indirect role such as hiring third parties to undertake the hack on its behalf.
North Korea’s Reasons for Bitcoin Hacking and Mining

South Korean Bitcoin Trading
South Korea was likely a prime target for North Korean bitcoin hacking because of its large trading volume. According to a business Korea report, the volume has reached about 15,400 bitcoins. The report elaborates:With such high trading volume, it is no surprise that the country’s exchanges have been a target of hacking, regardless of if North Korea is the culprit. Giant liquid honey pots tend to attract malicious actors. It will be interesting to see if bitcoin continues play a role in the escalation of geopolitical tensions in the Korean peninsular. Do you think North Korea hacked South Korea? How do you see this situation with North Korea unfolding? Let us know in the comments section below.Daily Bitcoin trading volume of Korea reached 15,408 Bitcoin (about 65.1 billion won or US$58 million) on September 21. The overall market share of the Korean won was 5.55%, weighing those of the Chinese yuan (4.97%) and the euro (4.77%). First and second place went to the Japanese yen (49.13%) and the US dollar (32.73%).
Images courtesy of Shutterstock
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