How can North Korea, where even the electricity supply is unreliable, produce top-tier hackers?
North Korea has mediocre power infrastructure. So how does it have one of the toughest hacker forces in the world?
The key isn’t the equipment—it’s a nationwide talent pipeline. They identify children with exceptional mathematical ability as early as elementary school, then train them in isolation with intensive, hands-on exercises. The goal is cyberwarfare.
The famous Lazarus Group and Bureau 121 are cyber forces under the Reconnaissance General Bureau, part of the military—not criminal gangs operating in the private sector.
Because the domestic internet environment is restricted, they operate overseas under false identities. They pose as freelance programmers or use fake recruiter approaches to infiltrate Web3 teams and exchanges. The recent Binance hack was also a textbook case of social engineering and infiltration.
Why target cryptocurrency? Sanctions have shut down traditional banking channels, while on-chain assets can move across the globe and offer numerous ways to launder money. The cost of maintaining hackers is extremely low, and a single successful operation can bring in billions of dollars.
That income is a crucial source of foreign currency for them. In their eyes, the crypto industry is a state-run ATM.
#美国10月非农出炉：降息还有戏吗？
North Korea has mediocre power infrastructure. So how does it have one of the toughest hacker forces in the world?
The key isn’t the equipment—it’s a nationwide talent pipeline. They identify children with exceptional mathematical ability as early as elementary school, then train them in isolation with intensive, hands-on exercises. The goal is cyberwarfare.
The famous Lazarus Group and Bureau 121 are cyber forces under the Reconnaissance General Bureau, part of the military—not criminal gangs operating in the private sector.
Because the domestic internet environment is restricted, they operate overseas under false identities. They pose as freelance programmers or use fake recruiter approaches to infiltrate Web3 teams and exchanges. The recent Binance hack was also a textbook case of social engineering and infiltration.
Why target cryptocurrency? Sanctions have shut down traditional banking channels, while on-chain assets can move across the globe and offer numerous ways to launder money. The cost of maintaining hackers is extremely low, and a single successful operation can bring in billions of dollars.
That income is a crucial source of foreign currency for them. In their eyes, the crypto industry is a state-run ATM.
#美国10月非农出炉：降息还有戏吗？
