US file a lawsuit to recover funds from a hack by North Korea

[cryptomaniac_xxx]

According to this court document: https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/press-release/file/1310411/download, US government has file this lawsuit to lay claims on the 280 BTC and ETH which are holding the funds for the North Korean hack stolen from two crypto exchange. It didn't name the exchanges in the document, but it mentioned a dates on the said hacks;

1. July 1, 2019



2. September 25, 2019



Deposit:



US said that the hackers used the technique of 'chain hopping".

This tactic of moving between different types of virtual currency, often referred to as “chain hopping,” is frequently used by individuals who are laundering the proceeds of virtual currency thefts. Chain hopping seeks to accomplish several objectives. First, it helps obfuscate the trail of the stolen virtual currency because the path jumps from the blockchain of one virtual currency to another virtual currency. Second, the BTC ecosystem is much larger, with more virtual currency exchanges and traders willing to accept BTC versus other virtual currencies. Therefore, it is generally easier to transact in BTC and hide among the crowd.

https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/press-release/file/1310411/download

And the US government want to get everything back and take control of these account. The number of addresses is 280 that they want to be forteited and have control.

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[audaciousbeing]

If the US government is filing this in the court, I have every reason to believe they already have a way to gain control of these funds because it just does not make any sense to go through this stress and still be bothered about how to ensure control. From the look of it, they only need the legal backing to ensure their actions are not declared ultra vires and its a good one because its shows an organisation willing to follow due process. The narration of North Korea is just to further establish the hostility between the nations and not that they are expecting compliance from that part of the world.

[Mbitr]

Nice post OP. I did go through the document and it seems like the US authorities are really starting to understand blockchain tech !
Another interesting point is that no BTC was actually ‘stolen’ only Altcoins  

[Jating]

Nice post OP. I did go through the document and it seems like the US authorities are really starting to understand blockchain tech !
Another interesting point is that no BTC was actually ‘stolen’ only Altcoins  

But they have to move their altcoins to BTC hence the amount to be forfeited is in BTC.

If the US government is filing this in the court, I have every reason to believe they already have a way to gain control of these funds because it just does not make any sense to go through this stress and still be bothered about how to ensure control. From the look of it, they only need the legal backing to ensure their actions are not declared ultra vires and its a good one because its shows an organisation willing to follow due process. The narration of North Korea is just to further establish the hostility between the nations and not that they are expecting compliance from that part of the world.

I think US DOJ just wanted to make everything and perfectly legal that's why they have to file this into court and they don't want to make it that they are confiscating this without legal basis. And they just want to prove how dangerous North Korean sponsored hackings and trying to target their South Korean crypto exchanges on the other side. And it's good if these stolen funds can be reimbursement to the rightful owners.

[Slow death]

I would have been more comfortable if they had said that the hacker received an exemplary punishment, something like having had more than 30 years in prison, it's needed to apply heavy penalties to discourage this type of crime and another thing: I never heard that they caught the scammers from hyip sites , it seems that creating a hyip/ponzi site is a light crime that should not attract government attention.

Nice post OP. I did go through the document and it seems like the US authorities are really starting to understand blockchain tech !

and is there anything they don't understand? they have hundreds of human resources and materials in their favor, they know everything

[bitsurfer2014]

Unfortunately, even if the evidences against those perpetrators are strong and solid, I think there is a little chance they would recover those funds and North Korea's government would always deny any participation of it.

Now, the only thing the U.S. Government could do is to step up its economic sanctions to discourage them but I bet they wouldn't budge from such threat.

[tomahawk9]

OP posted links from the Justice .gov website that are downloadable files, so in case someone doesn't like that, here's the press release from the Justice Department about the hacks and the 280 addresses: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/united-states-files-complaint-forfeit-280-cryptocurrency-accounts-tied-hacks-two-exchanges

if you took the time to read the Attachment file in the link above (a pdf file at the bottom) , you'll notice that they mention "mining activity from North Korean actors" but they don't mention the cryptocurrency. Geez, i wonder if North Korea mining more Monero ^[1] has anything to do with this "mining activity"  

1. https://decrypt.co/18954/north-korea-is-mining-way-more-monero-than-last-year

[dothebeats]

I don't think North Korea will ever be returning anything to the US no matter how many lawsuits they file against the state. They would just deny and deny all these allegations while continuing what they're doing. Knowing how NoKor treated most of the cases and sanctions against them, they'd just shrug it off and tell the world that they are being bullied by the US, with their ally China backing them up and just making things hard for everyone else.

if you took the time to read the Attachment file in the link above (a pdf file at the bottom) , you'll notice that they mention "mining activity from North Korean actors" but they don't mention the cryptocurrency. Geez, i wonder if North Korea mining more Monero ^[1] has anything to do with this "mining activity" 

1. https://decrypt.co/18954/north-korea-is-mining-way-more-monero-than-last-year

I actually like that the US is being vague and cryptic about their wordings on which cryptocurrency are they talking about. Perhaps to not disrupt the market activity of the cryptocurrency in question but North Korea is still painting all the red flags and signs everywhere, so yeah.

[kamadazje]

I wonder if where this lawsuit will go because the chances that they can get this funds again is very low even if they filed a lawsuit because North is a very brave country
that even US can't silence it.

It will be good also if they also state the exchanges that are involved to this hack because this will not happen if those exchanges have the best counter measure to hackers knowing that they are holding the funds of their customers.

[akram143]

Even if they file a lawsuit there is no possibility of recovering the hacked funds, because it is in North Korea.But atleast these things are now getting the attention from government which may become a reason for more regulations in crypto currencies on several countries.

[Sanugarid]

Unfortunately, even if the evidences against those perpetrators are strong and solid, I think there is a little chance they would recover those funds and North Korea's government would always deny any participation of it.

We know how North Korea play games with America, I'm sure America will get nothing from North Korea even a penny for this, besides North Korea isn't that fool to have any link to the hacker if their hacker is really the perpetrator. To be honest, it seems to me that America is really entering any hole they can see just to start a war because of their collapsing country. It is just a little quick thought of mine, don't look at it too much.

Now, the only thing the U.S. Government could do is to step up its economic sanctions to discourage them but I bet they wouldn't budge from such threat.

North Korea will just deny all of these allegations, just like what they did from all of the hacking incidents that they were involved and mention. And as far as I know there are no solid proof that will lead to NK government for this hacking incident.

[Baofeng]

Even if they file a lawsuit there is no possibility of recovering the hacked funds, because it is in North Korea.But atleast these things are now getting the attention from government which may become a reason for more regulations in crypto currencies on several countries.

If you read the documents, it didn't mentioned that the hacked funds are in North Korean hands, in fact, they

(1) identified a US email based
(2) when cyber threat actors tries to convert the stolen funds (a transaction ID beginning with 6918d31f), the exchange didn't proceed, perhaps the coins has been trailed and on the blacklist of exchange already
(3) they move to other exchange, but since it is blacklisted already, been flagged so no cash out happened.

Which means that the funds are sitting to those exchange right now and the US authorities did file this lawsuit to claim those and give it back to the right owners. And you have to understand that this case is not against North Korean hackers directly, but "in rem" - meaning lawsuit on the property itself, in this case the stolen cryptocurrency.

@tomahawk9 - yes, even the exchange are not being mentioned, but as crypto enthusiast, and who have been following North Korean modus, I'm sure that it is indeed Monero here being used for crypto jacking.

[Anna138]

If the US government is filing this in the court, I have every reason to believe they already have a way to gain control of these funds because it just does not make any sense to go through this stress and still be bothered about how to ensure control. From the look of it, they only need the legal backing to ensure their actions are not declared ultra vires and its a good one because its shows an organisation willing to follow due process. The narration of North Korea is just to further establish the hostility between the nations and not that they are expecting compliance from that part of the world.

It seems to me more and more that the conflict between the US and North Korea is very inflated in the media and has no solid ground. It does not go beyond the statements of Prime Ministers and presidents, and as for weapons, the United States has a huge advantage here, and this is obvious to everyone. So the control of funds can be a joint solution that is beneficial for both sides.

[bbc.reporter]

In another press release related to this issue, it was mentioned that a Chinese cryptocurrency money laundering ring was involved. After reading this I remembered litecoin hehe. This coin has low development, has a small community, however it has always been having very high volume in Chinese exchanges? This is very suspicious.



“Today’s action publicly exposes the ongoing connections between North Korea’s cyber-hacking program and a Chinese cryptocurrency money laundering network,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian C. Rabbitt of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division

Source https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/united-states-files-complaint-forfeit-280-cryptocurrency-accounts-tied-hacks-two-exchanges

[TravelMug]

If the US government is filing this in the court, I have every reason to believe they already have a way to gain control of these funds because it just does not make any sense to go through this stress and still be bothered about how to ensure control. From the look of it, they only need the legal backing to ensure their actions are not declared ultra vires and its a good one because its shows an organisation willing to follow due process. The narration of North Korea is just to further establish the hostility between the nations and not that they are expecting compliance from that part of the world.

It seems to me more and more that the conflict between the US and North Korea is very inflated in the media and has no solid ground. It does not go beyond the statements of Prime Ministers and presidents, and as for weapons, the United States has a huge advantage here, and this is obvious to everyone. So the control of funds can be a joint solution that is beneficial for both sides.

How can there be a joint resolution on this when obviously, North Korea and the US are not in speaking terms and North Korean disavowing this so called Lazarus group. Yes, this could be a state back up hacking group but we have to think as how North Korea, with no power become so good at hacking in the last 10 years and has been targeting their enemies  infrastructure, financial institutions.

That they also evolved into stealing crypto to circumvent the trade embargo against them. I think the simply answer is that North Korea has some help outside.

[davis196]

If the US government is filing this in the court, I have every reason to believe they already have a way to gain control of these funds because it just does not make any sense to go through this stress and still be bothered about how to ensure control. From the look of it, they only need the legal backing to ensure their actions are not declared ultra vires and its a good one because its shows an organisation willing to follow due process. The narration of North Korea is just to further establish the hostility between the nations and not that they are expecting compliance from that part of the world.

Such court cases will take years before the final verdict and I don't believe that the funds will be recovered.
The US government has enough resources and clerks in order to "go through this stress" and investigate such complex theft.The main goal of this case isn't recovery of funds.The main goal is to stop the hackers that are backed by North Korea from stealing more coins out of South Korean crypto exhcanges.
I don't believe that the US government has suddenly become crypto friendly.This case is more about politics and international affairs,rather than cryptocurrency related stuff.

[GeorgeJohn]

Nice post OP. I did go through the document and it seems like the US authorities are really starting to understand blockchain tech !
Another interesting point is that no BTC was actually ‘stolen’ only Altcoins  

He did not specify it that is only alt coin that was hacked, but according to op bitcoin was among of  the stolen coins,because is only the dates are noted as evidence.

[int03h]

The lawsuit is meaningless because both countries do not have the same opinion about cryptocurrencies and North Korea will certainly deny that their country has a group of hackers who stole them from the US. This lawsuit only makes the political problems between these two countries worse only. 280BTC is equivalent to 3 million dollars. I don't think it's worth them suing North Korea.

[Mbitr]

Nice post OP. I did go through the document and it seems like the US authorities are really starting to understand blockchain tech !
Another interesting point is that no BTC was actually ‘stolen’ only Altcoins  

He did not specify it that is only alt coin that was hacked, but according to op bitcoin was among of  the stolen coins,because is only the dates are noted as evidence.

Really not sure what point you are trying to make with this post ?
No the OP didn’t specify that only Altcoins were hacked
Bitcoins were not stolen as such , the Altcoins were exchanged into BTC
The rest of your sentence I just don’t understand .
May I suggest that you read the document to fully understand what happened !

[tomahawk9]

I actually like that the US is being vague and cryptic about their wordings on which cryptocurrency are they talking about. Perhaps to not disrupt the market activity of the cryptocurrency in question but North Korea is still painting all the red flags and signs everywhere, so yeah.

It's possible, but I also think they're being vague cuz they don't wanna give free publicity to a cryptocurrency that they've had their eyes on ^[1] for quite a while now...US govt is not very fond of privacy coins, hell, even exchanges have problems listing Monero because Uncle Sam doesn't like it ^[2] (sames as the russians ^[3])

thing is being vague works for people outside of the cryptosphere, most of us involved in this little world [who are more likely to read these kind of crypto news] can quickly figure out what they're talking about (: 

1. https://www.forbes.com/sites/shehanchandrasekera/2020/07/06/irs-is-trying-to-deanonymize-privacy-coins-like-monero-and-zcash
2. https://cointelegraph.com/news/coinbase-ceo-exchange-wont-list-xmr-due-to-issue-with-regulators
3. https://cointelegraph.com/news/russias-new-crypto-analytics-system-to-track-dash-and-monero