The FBI, Department of Defense, and Japanese police have attributed the theft of over 4,500 bitcoin (worth approximately $308 million) from the Japanese crypto exchange DMM to North Korean hackers. The attack was linked to a group known as TraderTraitor, which employed social engineering techniques to gain access to the exchange's communications. The hackers initially targeted an employee at Ginco, a crypto wallet company, intercepting a legitimate transaction request after inserting malicious code into a Python script sent under the guise of a pre-employment test. This incident is part of a larger trend, where North Korean operatives were involved in the theft of $1.34 billion across 47 incidents in 2024, significantly increasing from previous years. The group, also known for its targeted social engineering tactics, has been linked to the rise in crypto-related thefts attributed to North Korea, which accounted for over half of all stolen crypto value this year.

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