American radio Free Asia reported that North Korea is planning to hold a conference on blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies, which will feature speakers from around the world. The conference will take place from October 1 to 2 in Pyongyang. Meetings of conference participants with representatives of North Korean government organizations are also planned for October 3.
It appears that North Korea is trying to officially recognize its interest and achievements in this area, although it has previously shown such interest and ability in illegal ways.
North Korea is believed to have exploited digital security deficiencies of South Korea to obtain cryptocurrency illegally. Additionally, the Lazarus scam group, which is often linked to North Korea, has launched new malware tailored to infect multiple operating systems.
Cybersecurity experts at Kaspersky Lab said that suspected North Korean hackers recently launched a new malware called "Applejeus" using the Fallchill Trojan. Malicious software was discovered in the IT systems of one of the Asian cryptocurrency exchanges. The attack occurred after one of the platform's employees downloaded an infected cryptocurrency trading application from a legitimate website. Experts discovered that the Fallchill Trojan was redesigned to target not only Windows PCs, but also macOS devices and possibly Linux devices.
North Korea has previously made similar claims. In March, former Asia-Pacific cybersecurity agent Priscilla Moriuchi said the North obtained at least 11,000 bitcoins (BTC) through mining and hacking in 2017. At that time, this was equivalent to more than 200 million US dollars. In addition, North Korean hackers were involved in a cyber attack on the country's largest cryptocurrency platform Bithumb, which compromised the personal data of more than 30,000 users.
With limited accessto the global financial system, Pyongyang is also trying to take advantage of unlimited and anonymous transactions. The seriousness of the Kim Jong-un regime's intentions to develop the country's potential in the crypto space is confirmed by reports that Pyongyang University will offer crypto courses.
According to digitalmoneytimes.com
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