North Korea's Billion-Dollar Digital Heist: How Crypto Theft Fuels Weapons

North Korea has been busy stealing crypto. They've taken about $2. 84 billion since early 2024. That's a lot of money! But how did they do it? Well, they used hackers and IT workers abroad to break into big crypto exchanges. These exchanges were in places like the UAE, Japan, India, and Singapore. After the theft, the money was cleaned up and turned into cash through networks in China, Russia, Hong Kong, and Cambodia. Chinese people helped by giving fake IDs and access to payment systems. This made it hard to track the money. But why are they doing this? Well, North Korea is under sanctions. They can't easily get money from other countries. So, they turn to cybercrime. The stolen money helps fund their weapons and research programs. It's a big deal because it's a major source of income for them. There's more. North Korea also has IT workers abroad. These workers earn a lot of money, between $350 million and $800 million in 2024. Half of that money goes back to North Korea. These workers are in countries like China, Russia, Laos, Cambodia, and even some African nations. They work on projects involving AI, blockchain, and web development. But they use fake identities to get these jobs. Their work also funds North Korea's military efforts. The world is trying to stop this. A group of 11 countries, including South Korea, the US, and Japan, formed the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team (MSMT). They track North Korea's cyber activities and sanctions evasion. They've called for better coordination among financial regulators to stop these illegal transactions. They also want to keep an eye on foreign IT contracts that might benefit North Korea.