The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued a statement yesterday warning. It states that North Korean hacking groups use a variety of techniques to steal crypto.
This warning is clearly very important, as it comes from three major US government entities. The warning was jointly issued by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Cyber Security and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the US Treasury Department. It was referred to as Cyber Security Advisory.
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It said that the US government found hacker groups sponsored by North Korea. Users can be indirectly victimized as hackers target crypto companies.
The announcement states that major investors should pay attention, but the main focus is on crypto exchanges, decentralized financing protocols, play-to-earn games, venture capital firms and trading firms.
According to the warning, the reason why hackers are targeting crypto is to steal and launder money to support the North Korean regime. This is not the first time this has happened.
North Korea began hacking crypto exchanges years ago. In 2018, the country has already stolen half a billion dollars, and in 2019 another 2 billion. This is a considerable amount which does not necessarily end up in the right place. Not long ago, stolen crypto was used by North Korea to fund missile programs.
merchant traitor campaign
As per the warning, hacking groups are actively trying to steal crypto from various crypto companies using different techniques. Two of these techniques were phishing campaigns and social engineering. So how did these hackers work?
It starts with sending a message. “The messages often mimicked a recruiting effort and offered recipients high-paying jobs to download malware-laden cryptocurrency applications that the US government refers to as ‘tradertraders’” The announcement said.
“The term tradertrader describes a range of malicious applications […] The malicious applications are derived from various open-source projects and claim to be cryptocurrency trading or price forecasting tools. TraderTrader campaigns consist of websites with modern designs that promote the perceived features of the applications.”