Binance freezes cryptocurrencies worth $ 4.4 million in connection with North Korean hackers

Binance freezes cryptocurrencies worth $ 4.4 million in connection with North Korean hackers

On May 25th, Binance announced the confiscation of cryptocurrencies worth around 4.4 million US dollars, which belong to the fronts of North Korean organizations that work at home and abroad.

Due to the sanctions against the rogue nation, the agents working for them often used illegal methods of gathering money, including theft of cryptocurrencies.

illegal research financing blocks

The funds that are confiscated today should be transferred to Pyongyang University of Automation, which is responsible for the training of the notorious North Korean hackers, as well as the North Korean Technical Reconnaissance Bureau.

Most of the cybercriminals trained at the Pybergjang automation university are part of the 110th research center, the unity that is responsible for the management of the Lazarus Group and similar groups.

To finance these companies, North Korean IT experts-often based in Russia and China-are looking for a job in companies around the world and transfer their salaries to the North Korean government. However, the recent financing round was stopped due to the efforts of the US government and Binance.

We are proud to have supported the US criminal prosecution authorities in confiscating $ 4.4 million and making accounts related to organized crime in North Korea.

great praise to our law enforcement partners and the team of Binance Investigations for their unshakable commitment in combating crime worldwide.

-Binance (@binance) 24. May 2023

Brian Nelson, a spokesman for the US Ministry of Finance, thanked her “partners in the private sector” for the help offered.

"Today's action continues to highlight the extensive illegal cyber and IT work operations of the DVRK, which finance the illegal mass destruction weapons and ballistic rocket programs of the regime. The United States and our partners continue to campaign for the illegal income generation activities of the DVRK and the continued efforts, money from financial institutions,, To steal, fight virtual currency exchanges, companies and private individuals around the world. ”

commitment to a safer world

Binance was already criticized because it supposedly did not do enough to prevent cyber criminal and radical groups from getting money from sympathizers worldwide.

However, the company has reacted to the allegations and explains that the team does everything in its power to stop these actions.

In fact, cyber security is a game with numbers - the fact that a few criminals manage to sneak through the network says nothing about the much larger number of criminals stopped. This is reinforced by the fact that companies do not publicly announce which malicious actors have stopped them and how they did it, as this would help others to avoid discovery.

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