North Korea'due south internet use saw a 300% surge over the by three years, equally the country's regime has continued to rely on cryptocurrencies for various activities.

Exploitation of crypto and blockchain engineering science is among the main tactics for the country to generate revenue as well every bit transfer and use illicitly obtained funds, a new study says.

Titled "How Democratic people's republic of korea Revolutionized the Net equally a Tool for Rogue Regimes," the study was released on February. 9 by Insikt Group, an intelligence arm of United States-based cybersecurity house Recorded Time to come. The written report analyzed N Korean senior leadership's internet activity between Jan. 1, 2019 and Nov. 1, 2019.

Using crypto for generating revenue and evading sanctions

According to the study, Democratic people's republic of korea has continued to exploit cryptocurrencies as a strategic weapon, with the country'south political and military elite being reportedly involved in massive hacks of South Korean crypto exchanges, scams, cryptojacking, and crypto mining.

Alongside illicit banking operations and depression-level information technology work and financial law-breaking, the generation and theft of cryptocurrencies have become a major tool to generate revenue and circumvent international sanctions and regulations, the study says.

Some countries play unwitting hosts to North Korean cyber operations

According to Insikt, the internet has become a critical tool for N Korean leaders, providing non only a source for acquirement generation, simply too an musical instrument for obtaining prohibited cognition such as data on ballistic missile programs and cyber operations. The study also noted that North Koreans that are involved in cybercrime are oftentimes sent abroad to get advanced training and nuclear-related knowledge banned by the Un.

In 2019, Insikt continued to trace Northward Korean agents in eight countries including India, China, Nepal, Kenya, Mozambique, Republic of indonesia, Thailand and Bangladesh. Specifically, the intelligence team suggested that China and India are the two major countries that unwittingly host and enable North korea's illicit operations.

As reported by Cointelegraph, North Korean hackers take allegedly taken responsibility for a number of hacks and phishing attacks of South Korean crypto exchanges such as UpBit. According to data from the United Nations, North korea generated an estimated $2 billion by hacking banks and crypto exchanges, equally reported in August 2019.