In this engaging discussion, Geoff White, an investigative journalist known for exposing North Korea's cyber warfare, joins John Wu, head of growth at Aztec Network. They dive into the chilling details of cryptocurrency heists, spotlighting the massive $75 million breach at NiceHash and the relentless tactics of North Korea's Lazarus Group. Geoff elaborates on the complexities of tracing stolen digital assets and the evolving risks in the crypto landscape, while John emphasizes the critical need for enhanced privacy measures in cryptocurrency transactions.
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NiceHash Heist
NiceHash, a Slovenian Bitcoin mining pool, was hacked in December 2017.
Attackers stole approximately $75 million worth of Bitcoin by obtaining private keys.
insights INSIGHT
Cryptocurrency's Decentralized Nature
Stolen cryptocurrency is difficult to recover due to its decentralized nature.
There's no central authority to reverse transactions or freeze accounts like traditional banking.
question_answer ANECDOTE
FBI Investigation and Lazarus Group
The FBI investigates the NiceHash heist, suspecting the Lazarus Group's involvement.
The Lazarus Group is believed to be working on behalf of the North Korean government.
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This book by Geoff White is a comprehensive and gripping account of the Lazarus Group, a secretive hacking collective alleged to be working on behalf of the North Korean state. It chronicles their decade-long campaign of cyber attacks, targeting central banks, cryptocurrency companies, film studios, and even health services. White's narrative takes readers through various global locations, from Hollywood to Dhaka, and exposes the intricate web of North Korea's cyber warfare, including their evolution from hacking Sony Pictures to multi-billion-dollar heists. The book emphasizes the broader implications of these cyber attacks on international relations and financial systems, and it serves as a cautionary tale about the vulnerabilities of our interconnected world[1][3][4].
In this episode we interview journalist Geoff White to discuss some of the recent crypto currency heists that have been happening. Geoff has been tracking a certain group of thieves for some time and shares his knowledge of what he’s found.
Much of what we talk about in this episode has been published in Geoff’s new book The Lazarus Heist: From Hollywood to High Finance: Inside North Korea’s Global Cyber War (https://amzn.to/3mKf1qB).
Sponsors
Support for this show comes from Axonius. Securing assets — whether managed, unmanaged, ephemeral, or in the cloud — is a tricky task. The Axonius Cybersecurity Asset Management Platform correlates asset data from existing solutions to provide an always up-to-date inventory, uncover gaps, and automate action. Axonius gives IT and security teams the confidence to control complexity by mitigating threats, navigating risk, decreasing incidents, and informing business-level strategy — all while eliminating manual, repetitive tasks. axonius.com/darknet
Support for this show comes from Thinkst Canary. Their canaries attract malicious actors in your network and then send you an alert if someone tries to access them. Great early warning system for knowing when someone is snooping around where they shouldn’t be. Check them out at https://canary.tools.
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