North Korea busts elite hacking ring inside its own banks

A criminal ring hacked into the internal networks of North Korea’s central bank and its main foreign trade bank. The ring used cryptocurrency to launder stolen funds and smuggle foreign currency across the border. Word that state-trained, elite information technology personnel were involved has shaken officials in the capital.

A source in Pyongyang told Daily NK on Thursday that hackers breached the internal networks of the Chosun Central Bank and the Foreign Trade Bank. The Chosun Central Bank oversees North Korea’s currency issuance and state fund management. The Foreign Trade Bank handles the country’s foreign payments and currency transactions.

The ring converted stolen state trade funds into cryptocurrency and smuggled large amounts of foreign currency in border regions, the source said. North Korea’s National Intelligence Agency, formerly the Ministry of State Security, rounded up the group on July 12. The breach struck at the core of North Korea’s financial system.

It came from within, carried out by the country’s own IT workforce. Veterans turned hackers built a hidden network According to the source, the ringleaders were discharged veterans from a cyber operations unit under North Korea’s Reconnaissance and Intelligence General Bureau, the successor to the Reconnaissance General Bureau, the country’s military intelligence agency long known for technology-driven espionage and hacking operations. After leaving the military, the veterans recruited young IT prodigies from Kim Chaek University of Technology and Pyongyang University of Science.

The group quietly built a cryptocurrency trading network designed to bypass state surveillance. Their goal, the source said, was to earn foreign currency and enrich themselves personally. To avoid detection, the group used Chinese-made specialized wireless equipment and encrypted messaging apps.

They drew on hacking skills sharpened in the military and at university. Using those skills, they broke into the well-guarded int