Norway seized $5.8 million worth of cryptocurrency stolen by North Korea – #Norway #seized #million #worth #cryptocurrency #stolen #North #Korea
LONDON, Feb 16 (Reuters) – Norway recovered a record 5.8 million stolen by North Korean hackers last year dollars worth of cryptocurrency, the Norwegian police said in a statement on Thursday.
North Korean hackers stole 625 million from a blockchain project linked to the cryptocurrency-based game Axie Infinity in March 2022 dollars they stole it. This robbery was one of the biggest heists in recorded history and USA was linked to a North Korean hacker group called Lazarus.
“This is money that could be used to finance the North Korean regime and their nuclear weapons program,” said Marianne Bender, Norway’s attorney general.
North Korea has denied allegations of hacking or other cyber attacks.
Known as Okokrim of Norway national economic crime section, “one of the largest cash seizures ever made in Norway” and a record 60 million Norwegian kroner (5.84 million dollars) confiscation said.
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Okokrim, USA He said he was working with FBI crypto-tracing experts.
According to US-based blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis, last year was the worst year for cryptocurrency heists, with hackers led by North Korean-linked attackers 3.8 billion They stole dollars.
Sky Mavis, the company behind Axie Infinity, is based in Vietnam, but its founder, Aleksander Larsen, is Norwegian. Larsen declined to comment, but in a tweet thanked cryptocurrency exchange Binance for helping Norwegian police with the seizure.
“When we learn of bad actors on our platform, we intervene and take appropriate action, including freezing funds and working with law enforcement to return funds to their rightful owner,” said a Binance spokesperson.
North Korea stole more cryptocurrency assets in 2022 than any other year and targeted the networks of foreign aerospace and defense companies.
Reporting by Elizabeth Howcroft and James Pearson; Edited by Nick Macfie
Our standards: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Elizabeth Howcroft
2023-02-17 03:12:08
Source – reuters
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