Crypto exchanges may continuously seek to improve their reliability, but when hackers have a loophole to exploit, such companies may succeed or surrender.

Columbia District Court has held a grand jury to file an indictment against two suspects in a major crypto theft, according to court documents.

Going forward, the lawsuit alleges that two Chinese citizens robbed about $250 million worth of virtual currencies from July 2018 to April 2019.

The suspects named Yinyin and Jiadong have accounts at two different crypto exchanges that have not been identified.

Accordingly, the US firms must register with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.

For his part, Secretary Steven Mnuchin said:

“The North Korean regime has continued its widespread campaign of extensive cyber-attacks on financial institutions to steal funds. Thus, the US will continue to protect the global financial system by holding accountable those who help North Korea engage in cyber-crime.”

On the other hand, the suspects’ activity is related to Lazarus Group, a hacking group allegedly linked to the North Korean government.

Meanwhile, Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski of the Legal Division of the Justice Department, said:

“These defendants allegedly laundered over a hundred million dollars worth of stolen cryptocurrency to obscure transactions for the benefit of actors based in North Korea.

“Today’s actions underscore that the Department will pierce the veil of anonymity provided by cryptocurrencies to hold criminals accountable, no matter where they are located,” he added.

$250M stolen, $100M laundered

According to the indictment, the North Korean co-conspirators steal cryptocurrencies worth $250 million from an exchange in 2018. Meanwhile, Yinyin and Juiadong tried to launder cryptocurrencies worth $100 million for their North Korean accomplices from December 2017 to April 2019.

Earlier, Cryptolydian reported Moscow-based Kaspersky Labs as warning crypto users against any potential attacks from hackers in North Korea as they develop malware through the most popular app Telegram.

In addition, the company said cybercrime group Lazarus has significantly changed its hack methodology through using improved tactics.

Thus, the cybersecurity firm managed to determine several victims from the UK, Poland, China and Russia, most of which have crypto business.





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