Japanese Crypto Exchanges Targeted by North Korean Hackers
The notorious North Korean hacker group Lazarus is targeting Japanese cryptoasset companies, and some of these companies already saw their crypto stolen, according to The JapanNews, citing the National Police Agency (NPA).
On Friday, the NPA released an alert, together with the Financial Services Agency and the National Center of Incident Readiness and Strategy for Cybersecurity, stating that there is a high chance that Japanese businesses have been targeted by Lazarus for several years now.
Allegedly, some Japanese companies have already reported that their internal systems had been hacked and their cryptocurrency stolen.
It was the subsequent investigation that led to Lazarus being identified as the group behind these targeted attacks. The investigation was led by the regional police across Japan in collaboration with the NPA’s special investigation unit on cyber-attacks established in April this year.
Japan has used a specific and rarely used method here, called “public attribution” – they came out with a name of a suspected attacker before making any moves such as an arrest. In these cases, they also announce the attackers’ purpose, means of attack, and any other relevant information. This method, per the news outlet, has been seen recently as an effective tool to deter attacks.
Katsuyuki Okamoto of the information security firm Trend Micro Inc. was quoted as saying that,
“Lazarus initially targeted banks in various countries, but recently it has been aiming at cryptoassets that are managed more loosely. […] It’s important to engage in public attribution, as it will raise public awareness of the perpetrator’s tactics and prompt people to take measures.”
It is noted that overseas cyber criminals are difficult to identify,
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