Suspected North Korean hackers have been blamed for the recent theft of over $100 million from Estonian-based cryptocurrency exchange Atomic Wallet. The heist affected around 5,500 crypto wallets, and it is believed that some of the money could be used to fund North Korea's nuclear and ballistic weapons programs. Crypto analysis firm Elliptic has attributed the incident to North Korea's Lazarus Group, which has allegedly stolen over $2 billion in crypto assets across multiple thefts. The group primarily targets South Korean entities for espionage purposes but has also targeted cryptocurrency exchanges. The Estonian National Criminal Police is investigating the theft, but authorities have not commented on the origins of the attacks. The United Nations has previously reported that North Korea had a record-breaking year for stealing crypto assets in 2022, with hackers reportedly stealing upwards of $630 million. International monitors believe that these funds are often used to fund the country's nuclear and ballistic weapons efforts. A White House official recently reported that roughly half of North Korea's missile program is funded through cyberattacks and crypto heists. The FBI has also linked Lazarus to the theft of $100 million of virtual funds from Horizon Bridge a year ago. The U.S. Department of Justice refers to Lazarus as a North Korean government-sponsored hacking team. The group's most recent heist marks the first major crypto theft publicly attributed to Lazarus since the Horizon Bridge theft.
Possible North Korean involvement in $100M crypto theft for nuclear funding
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