ZachXBT Exposes North Korean Dev Network Making Half a Million Dollars Monthly
ZachXBT, the renowned crypto investigator, has recently uncovered a network of North Korean developers who are earning up to $500,000 monthly through various crypto projects. The shocking revelation was shared by ZachXBT on X, where he exposed what he believes to be a highly organized operation run by a single entity in Asia.
According to ZachXBT, this network consists of at least 21 developers who have infiltrated over 25 crypto projects and have managed to steal millions of dollars from unsuspecting organizations.
The discovery of this network came to light when a team approached ZachXBT for help after $1.3 million was stolen from their treasury due to malicious code inserted by these developers. The team was unaware that they had hired North Korean IT workers using fake identities.
During his investigation, ZachXBT traced multiple payment addresses linked to these developers. He found that one group of developers had received a staggering $375,000 in the last month alone, with total transactions amounting to $5.5 million.
One individual connected to these transactions is Sim Hyon Sop, who has been sanctioned by the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) for allegedly coordinating financial transfers that support North Korea’s weapons programs. Another OFAC-sanctioned individual, Sang Man Kim, was also found to have received $2 million in crypto for selling IT equipment to North Korean teams in China and Russia.
ZachXBT highlighted that several experienced teams had unknowingly hired these North Korean developers. In one instance, a project discovered they had hired a North Korean IT worker named Naoki Murano, listed in ZachXBT’s findings. Upon sharing ZachXBT’s post in their group chat, Murano immediately left the chat and deleted his GitHub account.
The involvement of North Korean organizations in cyberattacks and scams is not new, with groups like the Lazarus Group known for laundering over $200 million in crypto through various hacks. ZachXBT’s findings further shed light on North Korea’s deep involvement in cybercrime within the cryptocurrency industry.
This revelation by ZachXBT serves as a stark reminder of the importance of due diligence when hiring developers and conducting business in the crypto space. The implications of such illicit activities not only impact individual projects but also raise concerns about the broader security and integrity of the cryptocurrency ecosystem.
