Cryptocurrencies
North Korea Suspected of Hatching Coincheck Heist
- Seoul spy agency is said to be exploring the possibility
- Pyongyang regime is said to have orchestrated string of thefts
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South Korea’s spy agency has begun investigating the possibility that North Korean hackers orchestrated the theft of about $500 million worth of digital coins from Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Coincheck Inc., said a lawmaker who attended a meeting with the head of the intelligence service.
The National Intelligence Service is investigating last month’s incident -- one of the largest cryptocurrency heists in history -- based on similarities with past cases associated with its northern neighbor’s cyber-attack apparatus, said the lawmaker, who didn’t want to be identified because of the sensitivity of the information. The South Korean agency is now examining the incident with cooperation from international authorities, the lawmaker added.