UN experts: North Korean hackers stole record virtual assets

By EDITH M. LEDERER
Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — U.N. experts say in a new report that North Korean hackers working for the government stole record-breaking virtual assets last year estimated to be worth between $630 million and more than $1 billion. The panel of experts said in the wide-ranging report seen Tuesday by AP that the hackers used increasingly sophisticated cyber techniques to gain access to digital networks involved in cyberfinance,and to steal information that could be useful in North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs from governments, individuals and companies. With growing tensions on the Korean Peninsula, the report said North Korea continued to violate U.N. sanctions, producing weapons-grade nuclear material, and improving its ballistic missile program, which “continued to accelerate dramatically.”