WORRYING

North Korea Funds HALF Its Ballistic Missile Program With ‘Crypto Heists’

The sophisticated hacks have netted North Korea more than $3 billion in five years, according to a new report.

North Korea now funds up to 50 percent of its ballistic missile program with money it gets from “crypto heists,” according to The Wall Street Journal, alarming tech companies and the White House. Officials described how North Koreans hire people across the world—including within Russia, China, and the U.S.—to masquerade as tech workers within companies and alter internal code, allowing North Korean hackers to dive in and raid the companies of millions of dollars worth of crypto. Some hackers will also pose as recruiters, tempting potential candidates with raises while sending them malicious code that opens up their company’s systems. These hacks have netted North Korea more than $3 billion in five years, the Journal reported. “It seems like a modern-day pirate state,” Nick Carlsen, a former FBI analyst who now works at the blockchain tracing firm TRM Labs, told the Journal. “They’re just out there raiding.”