Cash-strapped North Korea, cut off from the rest of the world by sanctions, is resorting to cyber warfare to help support itself.
asserted
Korea → strap → itself
Dictator Kim Jong Un has established a system that identifies and cultivates technical talent from a young age — all with a view towards forging an elite team of hackers to extract income for the hermit kingdom.
asserted
that → establish → kingdom
With raids on Hollywood studios, Asian central banks and crypto exchanges, the isolated state has become infamous for being the home of the globe's most threatening cyber thieves.
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state → become → thieves
It's a reputation that will only be reinforced in the aftermath of their alleged involvement in the $6.3bn hack of Binance this week, which is understood to be the largest financial heist of all time.
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which → reinforce → time
Attackers linked by analysts to Pyongyang may have swiped close to double the total amount of crypto stolen globally last year — a sum equivalent to almost a fifth of North Korea’s gross national income.
uncertain
Attackers → link → income
Binance, the world's biggest cryptocurrency exchange, halted withdrawals and suspended all deposits.
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Binance → halt → deposits
An initial investigation suggested the breach may have started with a hacked laptop belonging to one of Binance's engineers, which let an attacker gain access to one of its systems and make unauthorised withdrawals.
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attacker → suggest → withdrawals
The bulk of the heist unfolded in around 20 minutes beginning late on Thursday and bore similarities to previous large attacks blamed on North Korea, according to US blockchain analysis firms TRM Labs and Chainalysis.
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bulk → unfold → firms
Kim Jong Un has established a system that identifies and cultivates technical talent from a young age
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that → establish → age
The North Korean dictator aims to forge an elite team of hackers to extract income for the hermit kingdom
'
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dictator → aim → kingdom
North Korean hackers are among the world’s most aggressive and highly skilled cyber actors,' Shin Beom-chul, South Korea’s former vice-defence minister, told the Financial Times.
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chul → tell → Times
They receive systematic training and are deployed to generate foreign currency for the regime.'
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They → receive → regime
In recent years, the state's economy has been bolstered by closer ties with Moscow, which Pyongyang has supplied with weapons and troops to support Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine in exchange for billions of dollars in cash, fuel and payments in kind.
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Pyongyang → bolster → kind
But the pariah state, choked by sanctions, still relies on criminal activity to support itself.
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state → choke → itself
In 2025, North Korean hackers stole about $2bn, roughly 60 per cent of the global total and 51 per cent more than they took in the previous year, according to blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis.
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they → steal → Chainalysis
As it builds up its nuclear programme, Pyongyang has invested substantially in cyber warfare, building a system that identifies and trains skilled youngers with the aim of establising a crack team of hackers.
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that → build → hackers
According to South Korea’s National Intelligence Service, the secretive state is estimated to have about 8,400 personnel involved in cyber warfare operations, although the figures include technical support staff and is not limited to professional hackers.
uncertain
figures → accord → hackers
Selected students are enrolled in three to five years of advanced technical and cyber warfare training at institutions across the country, with the top performers progressing to specialist university programmes, according to North Korean experts.
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performers → enrol → experts
One five-year course is hosted at Pyongyang’s elite Moranbong College, which combines military studies with hacking and code-breaking.
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which → host → hacking
Certain elite operatives are chosen to receive additional training overseas in China and Russia.
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operatives → choose → China
'North Korean students who excel in mathematics and science are selected and trained in hacking from their teenage years,' Simon Choi, chief technology officer at cyber security start-up StealthMole, told the FT.
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Choi → excel → FT
Experts say that North Korean cyber thieves are able to operate without fear of prosecution, because they operate on behalf of the state.
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they → say → state
Choi highlighted how this made them more daring than their overseas counterparts.
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them → highlight → counterparts
'Because they face no accountability at home, they can actively target and hack foreign institutions,' Shin said.
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Shin → face → institutions
North Korea has for years used state-linked cyber units for espionage, financial theft and revenue, according to US and South Korean authorities as well as cybersecurity experts.
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Korea → use → authorities
The regime relies on such criminal schemes to generate hard currency.
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regime → rely → currency
In the early 2000s, US authorities accused North Korea of trafficking drugs as well as manufacturing counterfeit cigarettes and sophisticated fake $100 'supernotes'.
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authorities → accuse → cigarettes
In 2010, Washington imposed sanctions on Office 39, a covert bureau of the ruling Workers’ Party, that it alleged managed funds for the leadership and raised money partly through drug trafficking.
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it → impose → trafficking
Insurance claims have also been a source of illicit revenue.
But in recent years, Kim has shifted his regime's focus to the opportunities presented by cyber crime.
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Kim → shift → crime
The country's cyber thieves made international headlines with the hacking of Sony Pictures in 2014, which was widely understood as retaliation for the studio’s release of The Interview, a comedy depicting a fictional plot to assassinate the supreme leader.
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which → make → leader
In 2016, hackers stole $81mn from Bangladesh’s central bank in an attack US prosecutors blamed on North Korea.
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prosecutors → steal → Korea
Bitcoin and cryptocurrency exchanges, with their ability to generate vast and untraceable profits, have also attracted the regime's interest.
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exchanges → generate → interest
The North Korean state-backed Lazarus Group hacking syndicate was in 2022 accused of stealing approximately $620mn in digital assets from the Ronin network, which underpinned a blockchain-based video game.
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which → back → game
Two years later, TraderTraitor — allegedly part of Lazarus — stole $308mn from Japanese crypto exchange DMM Bitcoin, according to US and Japanese investigators.
It came after the group tricked an employee at a digital wallet company into downloading malicious software.
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group → steal → software
TraderTraitor is the same organisation accused of carrying out Thursday's hack of Binance.
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TraderTraitor → accuse → Binance
In February 2025, North Korean hackers pocketed about $1.5bn from the Dubai-based cryptocurrency exchange Bybit, according to the FBI.
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hackers → pocket → FBI
The attack was the largest crypto theft on record until the reported Binance attack.
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attack → report → attack
Pyongyang has in the past denied that it is involved in cyber crimes, dubbing such accusations 'absurd slander'.
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it → deny → accusations
In recent years, the state has secretly secured remote jobs for North Koreans, who transfer their salaries to the regime and in some cases use their network access to aid hacks.
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who → secure → hacks
According to the US Department of Justice, North Korean hackers posing as remote workers infiltrated over 300 US companies between 2020 and 2024, generating at least $6.8mn for Pyongyang.
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hackers → accord → Pyongyang
…and 28 more, not listed.
The Aporia
