Security News > 2020 > August > Justice Dept: North Korean Hackers Stole Virtual Currency
North Korean hackers stole millions of dollars from virtual currency accounts and then laundered the stolen funds in hopes of making the crime untraceable, according to a Justice Department civil forfeiture complaint filed Thursday.
It comes months after Justice Department officials accused hackers from North Korea of stealing nearly $250 million worth of virtual currency and charged two Chinese hackers with laundering more than $100 million from the hack.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian Rabbitt of the Justice Department's criminal division said Thursday's new case "Publicly exposes the ongoing connections between North Korea's cyber-hacking program and a Chinese cryptocurrency money laundering network."
In one of the episodes they describe, a hacker gained access to the virtual currency wallets of a U.S.-based company as well as funds held on other platforms, and stole nearly $2.5 million and laundered it through more than 100 accounts.
On Wednesday, it disclosed samples of malicious software that officials said North Korean hackers have been using to target a wide variety of victims.