I know wrong flag 
on the smiley
on the smileyWashingtonCNN —
https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/09/politics/north-korean-crypto-hackers-crackdown/index.html
CNN —
A team of South Korean spies and American private investigators quietly gathered at the South Korean intelligence service in January, just days after North Korea fired three ballistic missiles into the sea.
For months, they’d been tracking $100 million stolen from a California cryptocurrency firm named Harmony, waiting for North Korean hackers to move the stolen crypto into accounts that could eventually be converted to dollars or Chinese yuan, hard currency that could fund the country’s illegal missile program.
When the moment came, the spies and sleuths — working out of a government office in a city, Pangyo, known as South Korea’s Silicon Valley — would have only a few minutes to help seize the money before it could be laundered to safety through a series of accounts and rendered untouchable.
The FBI on Monday evening blamed North Korean government-linked hackers for stealing $100 million in cryptocurrency last June from a California-based firm.
The North Korean operatives this month laundered over $60 million of the money stolen in the June hack, according to the FBI statement. The bureau said “a portion” of the $60 million was frozen, but did not specify how much.
It’s one of a series of digital heists that US officials worry Pyongyang will use to fund its illicit nuclear and ballistic weapons program. North Korean hackers have stolen the equivalent of billions of dollars in recent years by raiding cryptocurrency exchanges, according to the United Nations.
In the June hack, the intruders targeted a “bridge” – or a program that allows for the transfer of cryptocurrency – run by Harmony, a California-based cryptocurrency firm.
The North Korean operatives this month laundered over $60 million of the money stolen in the June hack, according to the FBI statement. The bureau said “a portion” of the $60 million was frozen, but did not specify how much.
It’s one of a series of digital heists that US officials worry Pyongyang will use to fund its illicit nuclear and ballistic weapons program. North Korean hackers have stolen the equivalent of billions of dollars in recent years by raiding cryptocurrency exchanges, according to the United Nations.
In the June hack, the intruders targeted a “bridge” – or a program that allows for the transfer of cryptocurrency – run by Harmony, a California-based cryptocurrency firm.