{"id":4461,"date":"2024-12-19T08:03:10","date_gmt":"2024-12-19T08:03:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/?p=4461"},"modified":"2024-12-19T08:03:10","modified_gmt":"2024-12-19T08:03:10","slug":"us-cracks-down-on-north-koreas-crypto-fueled-money-laundering-network","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/?p=4461","title":{"rendered":"US Cracks Down on North Korea\u2019s Crypto-Fueled Money Laundering Network"},"content":{"rendered":"
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According to the latest reports<\/a>, the United States has made efforts to disrupt illicit crypto-related networks\u00a0that support North Korea\u2019s government, announcing sanctions against two individuals and one entity in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).<\/p>\n

The US Treasury Department particularly said the parties acted as front companies for the North Korean regime that performed operations to launder money and convert it into cryptocurrency before transferring millions of dollars directly back to Pyongyang, a city in North Korea.<\/p>\n

The Perpetration<\/h2>\n

Reportedly, the funds were obtained from cybercrimes and IT workers<\/a>, which contribute to North Korea\u2019s weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and ballistic missile programs.<\/p>\n

The two men \u2014 Lu Huaying and Zhang Jian \u2014 reportedly used a UAE front company, Green Alpine Trading LLC, to conduct the operation. The sanctions block their US assets and make it illegal for Americans to do business with them.<\/p>\n

The Treasury Department highlighted the importance of these illegal networks<\/a> in funding North Korea\u2019s military aspirations. Bradley Smith acting Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence noted:<\/p>\n

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As the DPRK continues to use complex criminal schemes to fund its WMD and ballistic missile programs \u2014 including through the exploitation of digital assets \u2014 Treasury remains focused on disrupting the networks that facilitate this flow of funds to the regime<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Digital Assets and Cybercrimes Underpin Funding<\/h2>\n

Notably, North Korean hackers have since been one of the major threats to crypto as they are mostly linked to the majority of the hacks in the industry.<\/p>\n

Citing the United Nations Security Council, the South Korean Yonhap News Agency recently reported<\/a> that North Korean cyber activities now contribute about 50% of its foreign currency earnings.<\/p>\n

Much of this money is reportedly used to fund WMD and other military programs. Although regulators<\/a> and even crypto platforms make efforts to combat these cybercriminals<\/a>, hackers tend to upgrade their tactics along with security updates from platforms.<\/p>\n

Particularly, North Korean hackers have now so far become more skilled at exploiting the crypto sector and also at cybercrime to obtain foreign currency. One recently discovered approach is that North Korean hackers impersonate top executives or recruiters for crypto companies.<\/p>\n

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North Korean hackers have stolen billions in crypto by posing as VCs, recruiters and IT workers https:\/\/t.co\/5mQwES2eqq<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 TechCrunch (@TechCrunch) November 28, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

An instance is where a member of the Lazarus Group posed as an executive at Fenbushi Capital, a Chinese blockchain asset management company. Using platforms such as LinkedIn, unsuspecting users were tricked into clicking malicious links<\/a> and giving the hackers access to sensitive data.<\/p>\n

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\"\ud83d\udea8\"Watch out for the #Lazarus<\/a> \"\ud83e\udd77\"\"\ud83c\uddf0\ud83c\uddf5\" attack on the fake Fenbushi Capital on linkedin! @fenbushi<\/a> @SlowMist_Team<\/a> @boshen1011<\/a> @VitalikButerin<\/a> \"\ud83d\udc47\" pic.twitter.com\/cAjAcPqkNj<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 23pds (\u5c71\u54e5) (@im23pds) April 29, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Featured image created with DALL-E, Chart from TradingView<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

According to the latest reports, the United States has made efforts to disrupt illicit crypto-related networks\u00a0that support North Korea\u2019s government, announcing sanctions against two individuals and one entity in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The US Treasury Department particularly said the parties acted as front companies for the North Korean regime that performed operations to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[3,4,5],"class_list":["post-4461","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-crypto","tag-doge","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4461","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4461"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4461\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4461"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4461"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4461"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}