A cybersecurity company said it has found software that appears to install code for mining cryptocurrency and sends any mined coins to a server at a North Korean university, the latest sign that North Korea might be searching for new ways to infuse its economy with cash.
The application, which was created on Dec. 24, uses host computers to mine a cryptocurrency called Monero. It then sends any coins to Kim Il-sung University in Pyongyang, cybersecurity firm AlienVault said.
“Cryptocurrencies may provide a financial lifeline to a country hit hard by sanctions, and as a result, universities in Pyongyang have shown a clear interest,” the California-based security firm said in a release, adding that the software “may be the most recent product of their endeavors.”
The company added a caveat that a North Korean server used in the code does not appear to be connected to the wider Internet, which could mean its inclusion is meant to trick observers into making a North Korean connection.
Kim Il-sung University did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Government officials representing North Korea at the UN were not immediately available for comment.
Others have flagged increasing signs of North Korean interest in cryptocurrencies and their underlying blockchain technology.
“With economic sanctions in place, cryptocurrencies are currently the best way to earn foreign currency in North Korea’s situation. It is hard to trace and can be laundered several times,” ESTsecurity chief analyst Mun Chong-hyun said.
Cryptocurrency watchers say technical details of Monero, the 13th-largest crypto asset in the world, according to www.coinmarketcap.com, make it more appealing than bitcoin to those who value secrecy.
Monero funds go to an unlinkable, one-time address generated with random numbers every time a payment is issued. That makes it less traceable than bitcoin, for which transactions can be linked to specific private addresses, cybersecurity experts said.
Marshal Swatt, an expert in blockchain technology and financial exchange, said cryptocurrencies’ independence from government regulation — and sanctions — make them logical choices for covert transactions.
Cybersecurity firm FireEye in a November blog post cited a series of North Korean activities against South Korean cryptocurrency targets such as exchanges.
“It should be no surprise that cryptocurrencies, as an emerging asset class, are becoming a target of interest by a regime that operates in many ways like a criminal enterprise,” analyst Luke McNamara wrote.
In early November, Federico Tenga, the Italian cofounder of bitcoin start-up Chainside, posted on Twitter photographs and comments on his visit to the Western-funded Pyongyang University of Science and Technology to lecture on bitcoin and blockchain.
“The lectures were at a quite basic level to give a general understanding of blockchain technologies, which are also very relevant to trade, supply chains and other e-business,” a university spokesman said.
“We believe this teaching can give the next generation of North Korean professionals additional concepts that may be valuable as they seek to develop their country,” the spokesman added. “We’re acutely aware of issues around sanctions, which we keep under regular review and take care to avoid any sensitive or proscribed areas.”
AlienVault’s report said one North Korean IP address, 175.45.178.19, has been active on bitcoin trading sites.
That is the same address used to control compromised Web servers in the 2014-2015 cyberattacks on South Korean energy, traffic, telecom, broadcasting, financial and political institutions, security firm AhnLab said.
The report also said that North Korean IP addresses have downloaded several episodes of the automotive TV series Top Gear and documentaries by the show’s former presenter James May.
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was