North Korea Denies Involvement in International Hacking Incident, Calling It "Political Smear Campaign"

May 4 (Yonhap) — North Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs pushed back against recent accusations of involvement in international hacking incidents on Thursday, calling the claims “false information driven by political motives” and a “ridiculous smear” on the country’s reputation. A ministry spokesperson accused the U.S. of hyping the so-called “North Korean cyber threat” via government agencies, media outlets, and think tanks to spread misinformation globally. The U.S. aims to weaponize cybersecurity issues to interfere in other countries’ domestic affairs and violate their sovereignty, the spokesperson said, adding Pyongyang strongly opposes the moves and will take necessary measures to safeguard its national interests. North Korea has previously been linked to several high-profile cyberattacks. On April 18, DeFi project Kelp DAO was hacked, resulting in an estimated $290 million loss. Some experts have suggested the incident may be tied to the Lazarus Group, a hacker collective linked to North Korea. In related news, BlockBeats previously reported that on May 1, TRM Labs released a new report noting North Korean hackers stole nearly $600 million worth of cryptocurrency in April’s Drift Protocol and Kelp DAO attacks—accounting for 76% of total crypto losses that month. TRM Labs estimates hackers associated with North Korea have stolen over $6 billion from crypto protocols and projects since 2017.