North Korea steals $1.5bn as it pulls off world’s biggest ever heist

https://lemmings.world/post/21579114

North Korea steals $1.5bn as it pulls off world’s biggest ever heist - Lemmings.world

The hackers stole more cryptocurrency in one attack than all the funds stolen by North Korean cyber criminals in 2024, when the rogue state’s cyber attackers made off with around $1.3bn in digital coins, according to cryptocurrency analysts Chainalysis.

Crypto once again showing why it’s either just a casino with extra steps or a way to buy drugs rather than a serious solution for any currency or real world transactions.

It’s so amazing and digital and modern and easy to steal.

Are there crypto scams? yes, and plenty of them. Can you buy drugs with them? sure (and I thinks that’s great!) Do either of the above statements get at the core issue here? not at all.

The issue here is not with the crypto itself. The issue here is the same issue that is regularly a problem anywhere software is deployed, digital security. The take away here is that many (all?) crypto exchanges are failing to properly secure their systems. Which is why the general rule that anybody investing in crypto should follow is never keep crypto in an exchange wallet unless you plan on trading it in the very short term. As an extension of that rule, you should never keep your crypto in a wallet that you don’t hold the private keys for. If you don’t have the private key for the wallet, it’s not your wallet. Not your wallet, not your crypto.

I have never really understood exchanges tbh. Centralizing decentralized currency feels like getting the downsides of normal money/investments with fewer of the benefits.