ZachXBT, a prominent blockchain investigator, has revealed a shocking discovery, a network of North Korean developers is reportedly earning between $300,000 and $500,000 a month by working on over 25 crypto projects.
In an August 15 post on X, ZachXBT shared his findings with his 618,000 followers, highlighting the involvement of at least 21 developers from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).
According to ZachXBT, a recent incident involved a crypto project losing $1.3 million from its treasury due to malicious code introduced by these developers, who used fake identities. The stolen funds were laundered through multiple transactions, including the transfer of 16.5 Ether to different exchanges.
Further investigation revealed that these developers are part of a larger network. ZachXBT tracked payments amounting to $375,000 in the past month alone, with total transactions reaching $5.5 million from July 2023 to early 2024.
These payments were linked to North Korean IT workers and individuals sanctioned by the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), including Sim Hyon Sop and Sang Man Kim, who are known for their involvement in DPRK-related cybercrime.
ZachXBT found that some North Korean devs used Russian Telecom IPs while claiming to be in the U.S. and Malaysia. A few accidentally revealed their real identities.
Despite the troubling findings, ZachXBT emphasized that not all organizations hiring these developers are at fault. He noted that a project recently discovered one of the DPRK workers in their team and took immediate action upon learning from his post.
North Korea’s involvement in cybercrime has been well-documented, with groups like the Lazarus Group reportedly stealing over $3 billion in crypto assets from 2017 to 2023. The U.S. has warned about the influx of North Korean workers into freelance tech roles, particularly in the crypto sector.
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