North Korean hackers attack South’s crypto market

A report released by Korea Internet and Security Agency (KISA) has stated that the number of attacks on South Korean websites to extract personal information and other data have significantly increased over the past year. KISA explains that the reason behind the aggravated attacks could be the tense clash between the two countries, which has promoted citizens of both countries to criticize and threaten each other.

According to the statistics released by KISA, the damage from ransomware has increased almost 3.7-fold from 2016, and more than 5,366 cases have been reported as of now in 2017. Moreover, the number of malicious code incidents numbered 452 in the second quarter of 2017. Almost all the malicious code incidents were related to ransomware, with only 44 aimed at stealing personal information.

KISA further clarified that the main target of the hackers has been Bitcoin as they attempt to gather the personal data of the investors in order to steal money from their e-wallets. The hackers attempted to access the cryptocurrency exchanges and place a malware code on desktop PCs to gather data.

KISA has warned people to avoid clicking on suspicious internet links. Additionally, users are advised to avoid opening emails that are supposedly from Korbit, as they are actually from hackers trying to gain access into users' computers.

Korbit is one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges of South Korea and observes around 11,500 BTC trades on a daily basis. This places the cryptocurrency exchange in the top 15 global Bitcoin exchanges.

Many of these hackers are sponsored by the North Korean state. In September, it was reported that state sponsored hackers were trying to hack into the Ethereum network to steal the cryptocurrency. It is doubtful that the situation will get any better and South Korean citizens are advised to cooperate with their government as well as avoid clicking on suspicious links on the internet.