Two South Koreans Paid in Bitcoin to Spy for North Korea

Two South Koreans Paid in Bitcoin to Spy for North Korea – Two South Korean nationals, a crypto asset management firm owner and a serving captain, have been detained on suspicion of transferring military secrets to a North Korean hacker. The individuals were allegedly paid in bitcoin worth $600,000 and $37,789 in exchange for passing on the sensitive information.

According to an AFP story, the arrest marked the first time a civilian and an active-duty military captain had been captured spying for North Korea. The captain, whose name has not been released, is accused of passing information used to log into South Korea’s Joint Command and Control System to a suspected North Korean spy, according to the country’s authorities.

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The cryptocurrency exchange operator, on the other hand, is accused of providing the military commander with a spying device. According to the report, the operator did this at the request of the North Korean spy.

In addition to the wristwatch-like espionage gadget, the businessman is said to have purchased and constructed a USB-like hacking device. The device would be used to gain access to the Joint Command and Control System of South Korea.

Following the arrest, a Korean National Police Agency official is reported in the paper as saying: “The two guys were detained on suspicion of breaking the national security law.”

The Korean prosecutor’s office issued a statement in response to the arrests, stating that it will react to security criminals in accordance with laws and values.

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The allegations that a North Korean hacker recruited South Korean citizens to spy for Pyongyang come just weeks after the FBI charged North Korean-linked hackers of being behind the Ronin bridge hacking incident.