Seoul, December 22 (IANS). South Korea and the US are jointly conducting research against North Korea’s cryptocurrency theft efforts. Officials gave this information on Sunday.
According to cybersecurity industry officials, an agreement has recently been reached on this matter between the South Korean government and the US Department of Homeland Security. Both parties will jointly work to track stolen assets while preventing cryptocurrency-targeted attacks.
It plans to support such research through the Institute for Information and Communications Technology Planning and Evaluation, Yonhap news agency reported.
This step has been taken at a time when the price of Bitcoin increased to $ 100,000 after the US presidential election last month. After this, hackers attempted to steal the assets.
The United States collaborates with other countries for cybersecurity research. South Korea has been chosen for research on digital asset tracking technology. Because North Korea is seen as a criminal for its attempts to steal cryptocurrency.
In this joint research, South Korean and American researchers, including Korea University and the Rand Corp Research Institute, will focus on techniques to prevent and monitor hackers who steal assets from cryptocurrency exchanges.
North Korea is known as a major player in cryptocurrency theft, with hackers linked to the country stealing $1.34 billion worth of cryptocurrencies in 47 incidents this year, according to leading blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis.
The Financial Services Commission (FSC) chief said last month that the government needs to keep a close watch on improper transactions in the cryptocurrency market.
“The price of virtual assets has recently increased rapidly in a very short period of time, and due to the huge volatility in the market, the government needs to keep a close watch on potentially unfair transactions,” said Kim Byeong-hwan, chairman of the FSC.
–IANS
DKM/CBT
