Former CIA Analyst Warns of Rise in Cyber ​​Attacks from North Korea

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A former CIA agent said North Korea will continue to focus on cyberattacks on cryptocurrency companies as the North Korean regime faces severe food shortages.

Soo Kim, formerly of the CIAposition analyst, warned that North Korea-backed cyberattacks on cryptocurrency and technology companies will become more sophisticated over time as the country grapples with lingering economic sanctions and resource shortages.

According to her, generating income from cyber attacksbecame a “way of life” for the DPRK, as the North Korean regime led to food shortages, as well as the refusal of other countries to cooperate with North Korea. Therefore, Kim believes, North Korea will continue to attack crypto companies and do it more and more sophisticatedly.

“Despite the fact that North Korea now hasthe channels through which everything necessary for the country is purchased are poorly developed; from the point of view of rapprochement with foreigners and the use of their vulnerabilities, the DPRK has “untilled ground,” the expert said.

First of all, according to Kim, hackerspay attention to unsuspecting employees of technology companies and try to find vulnerabilities through them. Some methods even involve getting a hacker to work for one of the Western or Asian companies.

According to the analyst, the country is very seriouslyapplies to this work - it's not just some person sitting in the basement trying to steal cryptocurrency. Pyongyang provides its hackers with the best equipment and education because they provide it with a critical revenue stream.

Earlier, experts from the Reuters news agency said that the stock of cryptocurrency stolen by North Korea over the past year fell in price by $400 million due to the decline in markets.