North Korea has denied an allegation that it was behind $2 billion hacking attacks to banks and crypto exchanges to finance nation’s weapons programs.
The National Coordination Committee of the DPRK for Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism accused “hostile forces,” and especially the U.S., of “spreading ill-hearted rumors.” The official statement was first reported by North Korea’s state-run news agency, KCNA.
North Korea has used “widespread and increasingly sophisticated” hacks to collect roughly $2 billion, which is laundered over the web, according to the U.N. report – reportedly researched by “independent experts” and presented to the U.N. Security Council North Korea sanctions committee at the end of July.
Attacking crypto exchanges allows North Korea “to generate income in ways that are harder to trace and subject to less government oversight and regulation than the traditional banking sector,” the U.N. report said.
