Bitcoin Heist in Japan Attributed to North Korean Cybercriminals

 

A joint alert from the FBI, the Department of Defense (D.O.D.) Cyber Crime Center and the National Police Agency of Japan reveal that a North Korean threat group carried out a significant cryptocurrency theft from Japan’s crypto firm DMM in May 2024. The group, referred to as TraderTraitor—also known as Jade Sleet, UNC4899, and Slow Pisces — is believed to be linked to the Lazarus Group, a notorious hacking collective with ties to Pyongyang authorities.

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p style=”text-align: justify;”>The Lazarus Group, infamous for high-profile cyberattacks, gained notoriety for hacking Sony Pictures in retaliation for the 2009 film The Interview, which mocked North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Their recent activities, however, focus on cryptocurrency theft, leveraging advanced social engineering techniques and malicious code.

Social Engineering and the Ginco Incident

In late March 2024, a TraderTraitor operative posing as a recruiter contacted an employee of Ginco, a Japanese cryptocurrency wallet software company, via LinkedIn. Disguised as part of a pre-employment process, the operative sent a malicious Python script under the guise of a coding test. The employee unknowingly uploaded the script to their GitHub account, granting the attackers access to session cookie information and Ginco’s wallet management system.

The attackers intercepted legitimate transaction requests from DMM employees by maintaining this access. This led to the theft of over 4,500 bitcoins, valued at $308 million. The funds we

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