North Korea stole more than $659 million in cryptocurrency thefts during 2024, and posted fake job seekers.

North Korean-backed hackers stole at least $659 million through multiple cryptocurrency heists in 2024, while also deploying IT workers to infiltrate blockchain companies as insider threats, according to Japan, South Korea and the United States in the case. Rare joint statement (PDF) Tuesday.

This announcement represents the first official confirmation that North Korea was behind what happened in July WazirX hack worth $235 millionthe largest cryptocurrency exchange in India. A hack that occurred in July 2024 forced WazirX to suspend trading and subsequently Company restructuring.

Other major attacks included the theft of $308 million from Japanese company DMM Bitcoin, $50 million each from Upbit and Radiant Capital, and $16.13 million from Rain Management, according to the joint statement.

The statement says that the Lazarus Group, a known threat group of North Korean hackers, carried out social engineering attacks and deployed malware to steal cryptocurrencies such as… TraderTraitor to hack exchanges, while also infiltrating companies by having North Korean IT workers pose as job candidates, according to the statement.

“The United States, Japan, and the ROK advise private sector entities, particularly in the blockchain and freelance industries, to comprehensively review these advisories and announcements to better inform cyber threat mitigation measures and mitigate the risk of inadvertently employing IT workers in the DPRK,” they said. Governments.

Previous United Nations reports estimated that North Korea He stole $3 billion in cryptocurrencies Between 2017 and 2023 to finance sanctioned nuclear weapons programs. Recent data from Chainalysis showed that North Korean hackers were responsible for 61% of all cryptocurrencies stolen in 2024, totaling $1.34 billion.