Treasury sanctions North Korean institutions involved in cybercrime

The Treasury Department sanctioned eight North Korean individuals and two entities for their role in laundering funds derived from a variety of illicit schemes, including cybercrime and information technology worker fraud.

Background: The Treasury Department said:

• The North Korean government relies on a broad range of illicit activity, including cybercrime, to generate revenue for its WMD and ballistic missile programs and explicitly tasks its hackers to raise revenue using illicit methods.

• Over the past three years, North Korea-affiliated cybercriminals have stolen over $3 billion, primarily in cryptocurrency, often using sophisticated techniques such as advanced malware and social engineering.

ICBA Advocacy: ICBA last month told Treasury that detecting illicit activity involving digital assets requires a greater effort and noted that the North Korean military is the most significant threat actor in crypto.

Growing Concern: The Financial Action Task Force in June said stronger action is needed to safeguard the international financial system from the risks posed by virtual assets and the use of stablecoins by various illicit actors—including North Korea—has continued to increase.