<\/p>\n
North Korea’s state-backed hackers have an \u201caggressive, relentless\u201d knack for finding and exploiting vulnerabilities, making them more dangerous than other groups, a former FBI agent told Benzinga.<\/p>\n
Social Engineering Hacks? <\/p>\n
North Korean hackers pose an existential threat to cryptocurrency ecosystems, having stolen\u00a0over $2 billion worth of assets in 2025 alone. Things have worsened in 2026, with April recording the highest number of cryptocurrency hacking incidents<\/a> on record.<\/p>\n The U.S. government\u00a0claims<\/a>\u00a0that the illegal proceeds from the thefts are used to fund North Korea\u2019s weapons and missile program.<\/p>\n Stephanie Talamantez, who spent more than 20 years with the FBI and now serves as Senior Managing Director at Guidepost Solutions, said that these actors have progressed from simple hacking to sophisticated social engineering techniques.<\/p>\n \u201cA company can put all the guardrails in place possible, but attacks that exploit human psychology can bypass those defenses within moments,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Talamantez stated that North Korea is running an \u201caggressive recruitment fraud\u201d in which perpetrators impersonate reputable cryptocurrency companies or headhunters, and that even she was approached in one such attempt on LinkedIn.<\/p>\n It\u2019s worth also highlighting the notorious 2022 Ronin Network breach, in which the Lazarus Group stole nearly $620 million<\/a> after infiltrating the network by posing as a recruiter on LinkedIn.<\/p>\n But these bad actors have also weaponized people’s trust in other ways.<\/p>\n \u2018Taking Their Time\u2019 To Select High-Value Targets <\/p>\n Rongui Gu, co-founder and CEO of blockchain security firm\u00a0CertiK, pointed to Drift Protocol\u2019s\u00a0$285\u00a0million exploit<\/a>, where attackers spent months posing as a legitimate firm, met targets face-to-face at international conferences and even deposited $1 million of their own money into the platform to build trust.<\/p>\n \u201cThis tells us these groups are taking their time to hand-select targets and develop a strategy for infiltration, rather than spraying the market with low-value attacks,\u201d Gu told Benzinga.<\/p>\n Read Also: Tom Lee: ‘ETH’s Price Doesn’t Reflect The Strengthening Of Ethereum’s Fundamentals’<\/a> <\/p>\n Crypto Industry\u2019s Weaknesses <\/p>\n Despite one high-profile breach after another, the cryptocurrency sector has struggled to implement a sustainable, long-term defense.<\/p>\n \u201cI would argue that the industry’s biggest structural weakness is coordination,\u201d Gu stated, noting that asset freezes, law enforcement referrals, and analytics tracing often happen across different jurisdictions and compliance standards.<\/p>\n \u201cDPRK actors will exploit that fragmentation because just one weak intermediary can keep the laundering chain alive,\u201d the CertiK CEO added.<\/p>\n However, Talamantez pointed to a different problem: the silence of the victims.<\/p>\n \u201cOrganizations often hesitate to disclose that they have been targeted or successfully compromised, which limits the broader sharing of threat intelligence,\u201d the former FBI agent said. \u201cAs a result, other companies may remain unaware of active attack patterns.\u201d<\/p>\n The Way Ahead <\/p>\n Gu believes that management teams need more security processes in place for transaction authorization, infrastructure protection and internal security awareness.<\/p>\n \u201cProjects should use formal verification to rigorously validate the logical correctness of underlying protocols and eliminate hidden vulnerabilities before deployment,\u201d he recommended.<\/p>\n Talamantez highlighted solutions such as smart contract analysis tools that execute \u201csimulated transactions\u201d beforehand to identify any malicious alterations.<\/p>\n She also emphasized the importance of human risk awareness, urging companies to train employees on what warning signs to watch for<\/p>\n Read Also: ETH Continues To Underperform XRP, Zcash: Now Even Its Superfans Are Losing Hope<\/a> <\/p>\n Photo Courtesy: Stephanie A. Talamantez<\/p>\n UNLOCKED: 5 NEW TRADES EVERY WEEK. Click now to get top trade ideas daily<\/a>, plus unlimited access to cutting-edge tools and strategies to gain an edge in the markets.<\/p>\n Get the latest stock analysis from Benzinga:<\/p>\n This article North Korea’s Hackers Have Moved Beyond Brute Force, Says FBI Veteran: Kim Jong Un’s Crypto Attackers Now Have A New Tool \u2014 You<\/a> originally appeared on Benzinga.com<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a9 2026 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. 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