North Korea could be making a fortune thanks to bitcoin
North Korea is profiting from the rise of bitcoin by hacking, stealing and mining the cryptocurrency with vigour, say experts.
Multiple security companies have linked Kim Jong-un's state hackers to digital assaults on the networks of casinos, cryptocurrency exchanges and large banks. Symantec, one such firm, said in May 2017 that North Korea had possible ties to the "WannaCry" outbreak.
Upon analysis, the rogue nation, which is known to operate from China, was also tied to the theft of $81m from the Bangladesh Central Bank. It was seemingly using hacking as a fresh source of funding. "It is a fact that North Korea has been attacking virtual currency exchanges," Lee Dong-geun, a director with South Korea's state-run Internet and Security Agency, told CNN Tuesday (13 December).
