Norwegian investigative authorities have revealed that a hacker group believed to be under the North Korean authorities seized about 780 million yen worth of crypto assets stolen in cyberattacks last year.
It has been pointed out that crypto assets stolen in this way may be a source of funding for North Korea's nuclear and missile development.
According to the Norwegian Bureau of Economic and Environmental Crimes Investigation, it was revealed on the 16th that the hacker group "Lazarus", which is said to be a subordinate organization of the North Korean authorities, had seized a cybernetic device that was planted in an online game network in March last year. Of the crypto assets stolen in the attack, 60 million Norwegian kroner, equivalent to approximately 780 million yen in Japanese yen.
"Lazarus" and others are believed to have stolen crypto assets worth 5 billion Norwegian kroner, approximately 65 billion yen in Japanese yen, in this cyber attack, and the Norwegian authorities followed the flow of money laundering in the United States, such as the FBI = Federal Bureau of Investigation. It means that he was following along with
It has been pointed out that the stolen crypto assets may be a source of funding for North Korea's nuclear and missile development.
Norwegian authorities have returned the seized crypto assets to the victims and are investigating that money laundering by "Lazarus" is still ongoing.