US and Japan: 'North Korean Hackers Behind Bitcoin Theft from Japanese Exchange'

Authorities in the United States and Japan have identified North Korean hacker organizations as the culprits behind the theft incident at the Japanese cryptocurrency exchange DMM Bitcoin last May.

On the 24th, Japanese police announced that a joint investigation by Japanese police and the FBI revealed that the cryptocurrency theft incident at DMM Bitcoin was carried out by a sub-organization of North Korea's hacker group 'Lazarus' called 'Trader Traitor'.

According to Japanese police, the hackers sent a job transfer message to an employee related to DMM Bitcoin, implanted malware on the employee's computer, and then exploited it to commit the cryptocurrency theft. The Japanese National Police Agency and the FBI confirmed that some of the stolen cryptocurrency flowed into accounts managed by North Korea.

Meanwhile, DMM Bitcoin, which suffered the hacking damage, decided to close down last February. All customer assets are to be transferred to SBI Group's cryptocurrency exchange SBIVC.