Binance announced the seizure of about $4.4 million in cryptocurrency belonging to fronts for North Korean organizations operating in the nation and overseas on the 25th of May.
Due to sanctions imposed on the rogue nation, operatives working for it have frequently turned to illegal methods of generating revenue, including cryptocurrency theft.
Blocked Illicit Research Funding
According to the US Department of Treasury, the cash confiscated today were to be transferred to the Pyongyang University of Automation, which is responsible for educating the infamous North Korean hackers, and the North Korean Technical Reconnaissance Bureau, which hires those bad actors.
The majority of cybercriminals trained at Pyongyang University of Automation are members of the 110th Research Center, the institution in charge of running the Lazarus Group and other similar organizations.
To fund these businesses, North Korean IT professionals, who are frequently stationed in Russia and China, seek employment in companies all over the world and pay their salaries to the North Korean government. The most recent round of investment, however, was halted due to the actions of the US government and Binance.
A spokeswoman for the US Treasury, Brian Nelson, commended their “partners in the private sector” for their assistance.
“Today’s action highlights the DPRK’s extensive illicit cyber and information technology worker operations, which fund the regime’s illegal weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs.” The United States and our partners are committed to combating the DPRK’s illicit revenue generation activities and ongoing efforts to steal money from financial institutions, virtual currency exchanges, businesses, and private persons worldwide.”
Binance’s Commitment to a Safer World Binance has previously been chastised for apparently failing to do enough to prevent cybercriminals and radical groups from collecting financing from sympathizers throughout the world.
However, the firm has replied to the charges, noting that the staff is doing everything possible to put a stop to these practices.
Indeed, cybersecurity is a numbers game; the fact that a few bad actors get through the net says nothing about the much larger number of bad actors who are caught. This is exacerbated by the fact that firms do not publicly reveal which bad actors they have stopped and how they did so, as doing so might aid others in evading detection.