Cryptocurrency theft is estimated to generate half of the country’s foreign currency income
North Korea plays by its own rules. The isolated, secretive and autocratic country is largely cut off from the world’s economic system – but when it comes to generating foreign earnings it relies on some of the world’s most sophisticated hacking.
Experts, such as TRM Labs, quickly attributed the extraordinary $6.3bn (£4.7bn) Binance cryptocurrency theft to TraderTraitor, an elite North Korean hacking unit that has also been known as the Lazarus Group. Though the link may not be proven yet, the pattern of behaviour is familiar.
President Volodymyr Zelensky and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will reportedly discuss the security situation in the Black Sea and other developments related to Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine.
A North Korea-based cybercrime group appears to be behind a $6.3 billion hack of the cryptocurrency exchange Binance, according to two blockchain intelligence firms. Both TRM Labs and Chainalysis tied the largest crypto hack on record to TraderTraitor, a North Korean hacking unit that has previously targeted the digital asset industry. Billions of dollars’ worth…
A North Korea-based cybercrime group appears to be behind a $6.3 billion hack of the cryptocurrency exchange Binance, according to two blockchain intelligence firms. Both TRM Labs and Chainalysis tied the largest crypto hack on record to TraderTraitor, a North Korean hacking unit that has previously targeted the digital asset industry. Billions of dollars’ worth…
Mekin Büyükdeniz, ejecutado de madrugada en una habitación del Hospital Joan XXIII, era el presunto cabecilla de la organización criminal 'Los 10 hermanos', con base en Estambul Leer
Mekin Büyükdeniz, ejecutado de madrugada en una habitación del Hospital Joan XXIII, era el presunto cabecilla de la organización criminal 'Los 10 hermanos', con base en Estambul
Automated gun turrets now serve in Ukraine’s Air Force and are destroying Russia’s jet-powered weapons, the Defense Ministry reported on 29 October. It gave no count for those jet kills, and it did not say what type of drones the turrets downed over Kyiv.
Jet drones are where Ukraine struggles most. From 1 to 26 September, Ukraine downed 55% of jet-powered drones against 90% of slower ones, partly because its interceptor drones fly at about 300 km/h, too slow to catch them. Yurii Cherevashenko, Deputy Commander of the Air Force, told a parliamentary inquiry commission on 6 October that jet-drone interceptors would arrive in the needed numbers no earlier than late November. Guns have limits too. On 5 October, Air Force spokesman Yurii Ihnat said turrets had already downed Geran-5s, but that their range is short because their main weapon is a machine gun.
Air Force turrets against jet weapons
According to the ministry, Brave1, a defense innovation cluster, began developing automated turrets in 2024. The systems have since “moved beyond the experimental stage and become an integral part of air defense,” it said. In Air Force service, the turrets are destroying jet-powered Banderol munitions and Geran-5 drones.
Explore further
To scale up air defense without straining the front, Ukraine enlists business. In under year nearly 100 companies have joined, their crews downing 60-plus targets
Russia first used the Geran-5, a 6-meter jet-powered strike drone, in early 2026. The Banderol, a jet-powered cruise missile, flies at 520–560 km/h and can reach 650 km/h.
Private teams, a familiar number
Separately, the ministry said turrets have destroyed more than 60 targets within the private air defense project. The project lets companies form anti-drone teams that work under Air Force command.
Explore further
Postal service Nova Post says it has already shot down Russian Shahed drones, as Ukrainian businesses take air defense into their own hands
Yet on 14 October, the ministry gave the same 60-plus total for all private teams. At the time, it named interceptor drones and heavy machine-gun turrets as their main weapons. Groups from six companies were on combat duty, about 50 groups had been formed in total, and some were still training. Nearly 100 companies had joined by then, up from 81 in mid-September.
The ministry says the project expands air defense “without placing an additional burden” on the military’s own air defense. It and Brave1 say they will keep integrating automated turrets into the air defense system.
Click to see full-size image. (Korean Central News Agency)
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has called for the country to achieve “absolute superiority” in drone technology, declaring unmanned weapons and artificial intelligence (AI) central to modern warfare as Pyongyang showcased an expanding arsenal of drones, cruise missiles and multiple rocket launchers.
Kim made the remarks during an exhibition and weapons demonstration of unmanned aeronautical technology, the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on October 29.
The event featured tactical suicide attack drones, tactical cruise missiles, multipurpose drones and a battalion of 600 mm multiple rocket launchers.
Click to see full-size image. (Korean Central News Agency)
Click to see full-size image. (Korean Central News Agency)
Pursuing superiority in drone technology was “an indispensable option” given the changing nature of modern warfare, Kim said, according to KCNA. The leader also called for the use of advanced AI in unmanned weapons systems to become a top priority in building the country’s modern armed forces.
Click to see full-size image. (Korean Central News Agency)
Click to see full-size image. (Korean Central News Agency)
Click to see full-size image. (Korean Central News Agency)
Click to see full-size image. (Korean Central News Agency)
The exhibition came as North Korea increasingly incorporates drones and AI into its military modernization efforts, drawing lessons from Ukraine and other recent conflicts.
KCNA photographs showed Kim inspecting rows of unmanned aerial vehicles alongside senior military officials. Other images depicted a drone crashing into a military vehicle positioned on a hillside and exploding in a ball of flame as part of the weapons demonstration.
South Korea’s military said a day earlier that North Korea had fired around 10 projectiles, including short-range ballistic missiles.
Click to see full-size image. (Korean Central News Agency)
Click to see full-size image. (Korean Central News Agency)
Click to see full-size image. (Korean Central News Agency)
Click to see full-size image. (Korean Central News Agency)
Click to see full-size image. (Korean Central News Agency)
The display also offered a glimpse of several weapons that could significantly expand North Korea’s drone capabilities. State media showed for the first time a tailless, flying-wing stealth drone. Other photographs depicted racks of fiber-optic-guided first-person-view attack drones and loitering munitions resembling the U.S. Switchblade 600.
Click to see full-size image. (Korean Central News Agency)
Click to see full-size image. (Korean Central News Agency)
Click to see full-size image. (Korean Central News Agency)
Click to see full-size image. (Korean Central News Agency)
Click to see full-size image. (Korean Central News Agency)
Click to see full-size image. (Korean Central News Agency)
Click to see full-size image. (Korean Central News Agency)
Mock targets resembling South Korean-made K9 self-propelled howitzers, American-made M1 Abrams main battle tanks and radars suggested that the weapons were designed for use against South Korean and U.S. forces.
Click to see full-size image. (Korean Central News Agency)
Click to see full-size image. (Korean Central News Agency)
Click to see full-size image. (Korean Central News Agency)
Click to see full-size image. (Korean Central News Agency)
Click to see full-size image. (Korean Central News Agency)
Click to see full-size image. (Korean Central News Agency)
Click to see full-size image. (Korean Central News Agency)
Kim has repeatedly called for expanding the military’s drone capabilities. In November 2024, he ordered the mass production of suicide attack drones, followed by tests of AI-equipped versions in March 2025. He subsequently identified AI as a top priority for weapons modernization in September of the same year.
North Korea’s military has also gained battlefield experience through its participation in defensive actions in the Russian special military operation.
The exhibition came amid deteriorating relations between the two Koreas. Seoul has vowed to respond firmly to what it considers North Korean violations of the military border, while Pyongyang has condemned joint South Korean-U.S. air defense drills.
North Korea’s Defense Ministry said the exercises were increasing tensions on the peninsula and warned that there was “no limit” to its options for maintaining a strong deterrent posture, KCNA reported.
Tensions have also risen following a landmine explosion inside the Demilitarized Zone last month that seriously wounded several South Korean soldiers. Seoul blamed a North Korean mine, an accusation Pyongyang denied. Earlier in October, Kim’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, said North Korea would activate anti-South Korean propaganda loudspeakers along the countries’ entire border by the end of the month.
La operación para evacuar a los habitantes de la población de Oleshki ha comenzado este viernes por la mañana y sigue en marcha. 25 autobuses con capacidad para 750 pasajeros, camiones y varias ambulancias estaban listos desde horas antes para ingresar a la ciudad, según ha informado el Defensor del Pueblo de Ucrania para los Derechos Humanos, Dmitro Lubinets, que encabeza la delegación ucrania. Su homóloga rusa, Yana Lantrátova, se encuentra también en la ciudad ocupada, según ha dicho en un mensaje en la red social Telegram, para organizar la evacuación.
Fotograma del vídeo difundido por el defensor del Pueblo ucranio, Dmitró Lubinets, tras llegar este viernes a Oleshki, en la provincia ucrania de Jersón.
La presidenta del Banco Central Europeo (BCE), Christine Lagarde, confirmó este jueves lo que era un secreto a voces: su marcha anticipada de la institución el próximo mes de febrero, en vez de octubre de 2027, como estaba previsto. Lo que ha precipitado la decisión ha sido la complicada situación política que atraviesa su país, Francia, en vísperas de unas elecciones presidenciales la próxima primavera que pueden llevar por primera vez a la extrema derecha al Elíseo. Lagarde asegura “no poder permanecer neutral” en esta campaña, como le exigiría su cargo, aunque ha dado a entender que ella no es candidata. La salida de Lagarde activa una remodelación de la cúpula del BCE. Y permite que las capitales pacten los nombramientos de la principal institución financiera de la eurozona al inicio de un ciclo electoral que marcará el rumbo del continente.
Ukraine’s human rights commissioner Dmytro Lubinets and his delegation safely reached Russian-occupied Oleshky in Kherson Oblast on 30 October, with the local truce at 80 hours and holding. He said he was talking with residents to learn what help they need most.
Russia has kept Oleshky, on the left bank of the Dnipro River, cut off for months, leaving residents starving. Now the test is where the buses take people. The White House promised residents who wish to leave transport to their “preferred destination.” Lubinets said on 27 October that everyone who wants to go to Ukraine will be able to. Under agreement pages published by Fox News, his own delegation and the residents who choose Ukraine travel together via Anapa in Russia. From there, a Russian military transport plane to Homiel in Belarus is expected on 31 October.
Explore further
Russia may use the Oleshky truce to rebuild its forces, ISW warns, as evacuees face a route through Russia and Belarus
Buses on standby, aid for those who stay
On the morning of 30 October, before reaching the town, Lubinets wrote from Armiansk in occupied Crimea that he was coordinating the mission with Yana Lantratova, Russia’s human rights commissioner. He said 25 buses with 750 seats had been prepared, plus ambulances for people with limited mobility. Anyone who wants to leave will get a safe way out, and those who stay will receive aid, he added. In delivering that aid, special attention goes to elderly residents and people with disabilities, he said.
We are in Oleshky! The Ukrainian delegation has safely reached the city.
The ceasefire has been in effect for 80 hours and remains in place. I am currently on the ground, speaking with local residents to hear about their needs and understand what kind of assistance they need… pic.twitter.com/AOhKIV0WLO
The evening before, he said people who want to leave could do so until 14:00, with aid distribution after 14:30, without naming a date. Speaking to journalists, he called it the first truce since 2022 to hold this long on such a large stretch of front.
How the truce came about
The White House announced the truce on 23 October, crediting First Lady Melania Trump. It took effect at 03:00 Kyiv time on 27 October. Its zone was later widened. By 29 October, the convoy was ready, Lubinets said. The truce is due to end at 22:59 Kyiv time on 1 November.
Japan-South Korea ties are on the upswing. After a recent decade of some of the tensest relations since normalization, Seoul and Tokyo appear to be setting aside their differences as they enter a new phase of closer cooperation and active diplomatic initiatives. Under Kishida Fumio and Yoon Suk-yeol, the countries signed a pact with the […]
In November 2023, three engineers left a South Korean semiconductor testing-components company for a Chinese employer offering twice their previous salaries. According to South Korea’s Intellectual Property Office, they allegedly took proprietary probe-card designs, arranged for a Korean design firm to modify them, and used the technology to develop products in China. By December 2025, […]
Blockchain researchers say Binance heist likely orchestrated by hacker group affiliated with Pyongyang; exchange says users are safe and that it will cover all losses
Hackers stole $6.3 billion from Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, in what analysts say is the biggest crypto hack ever, an attack that could prompt investors to rethink the risks of owning digital assets.
The hackers behind the raid were from North Korea, according to US blockchain analysis firms TRM Labs and Chainalysis. The attackers targeted Binance wallets on 10 blockchains and shifted most of the funds in about 20 minutes, TRM Labs said in a statement.
Binance said it worked with partners to freeze the affected assets with about $3 billion located so far. It did not mention the status of the remaining $3.3 billion, and its co-founder Yi He said the exchange would cover “all hacking losses”.
Binance said its deposits were unaffected and it expects to resume withdrawal services in the next 48 hours.
TRM said several features of the attack matched earlier heists linked to North Korea, including a 2025 hack of crypto exchange Bybit that the US Federal Bureau of Investigation had attributed to Pyongyang.
“We make this judgment with high confidence,” it said in a statement.
North Korea’s mission in Geneva and its embassy in China did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.
The incident could be the world’s biggest crypto heist, according to analytics firm Chainalysis and other industry experts.
“It’s the biggest hack in history,” said Aravind Srinivasan, head of large crypto market maker GSR’s systematic OTC business.
Bitcoin tumbles as crypto markets react
Bitcoin BTC= dropped more than 3% to a six-week low of $76,368 and ether ETH= fell more than 3% to a two-month low of $2,178. BNB BNB=CCCL, a token originally launched as Binance Coin that can be used to pay Binance fees, was down 5% over the past 24 hours at $709.70, according to market aggregator CoinGecko.
Shares in crypto exchange Coinbase Global COIN.O slid 4.8% while those of bitcoin buyer Strategy MSTR.O fell nearly 6% in extended US trading.
Hacked laptop may have triggered breach
An initial investigation suggested the breach may have started with a hacked laptop belonging to one of its engineers, which let an attacker gain access to one of its systems and make unauthorized withdrawals, Binance said.
“The incident stems from multiple factors. Our security team is tracing the full attack path through the compromised computer which may be the entry point of the incident,” Binance said.
Beyond the potential loss of assets, the security breach was likely to have wider ramifications for crypto, which had already been under pressure due to higher US interest rates and softer demand from exchange-traded fund buyers, analysts said.
“It may further dampen risk appetite and prompt investors to reassess the safety of assets held on centralized exchanges, as well as counterparty, solvency and liquidity risks,” said Tim Sun, senior researcher at HashKey Group, based in Hong Kong.
Binance, which allows users to buy, sell and trade digital assets, has 335 million registered users globally and had about $162.8 billion in assets under custody as of the exchange’s 2025 annual report.
“User funds remain safe,” Binance said in a statement.
Binance moves to protect customer funds
Binance runs a secure asset fund for users, which is a reserve held entirely in bitcoin that is intended to protect user assets in cases of security breaches, according to its website.
“It’s becoming very hard to counter hacks as AI can find vulnerabilities faster than you can fix them,” said Bernardo Brites, CEO of Trace Finance, a payments and stablecoin infrastructure company.
“My view is that users will move away from smaller and medium-sized exchanges, (it is) becoming too risky to park your money somewhere that couldn’t cover a hack of meaningful size.”
Crypto firms freeze billions in stolen assets
Stablecoin issuer Tether said it had frozen nearly $1.57 billion in assets linked to the incident, while Circle froze more than $800 million.
World Liberty Financial, a crypto company linked to US President Donald Trump and his family, said on Thursday it had worked with cryptocurrency custodian BitGo to freeze funds stolen in what it described as a Binance hack. Binance’s Yi said $27 million in stablecoins and about $2 million worth of World Liberty tokens had been frozen.
Crypto firm Ripple also froze roughly $200 million in funds, Yi said. Jack McDonald, senior vice president of stablecoins at Ripple, said the company was closely monitoring reports of a potential exploit involving Binance and was freezing affected funds and coordinating with relevant parties.
Record theft adds to growing crypto security fears
Miguel Morel, CEO of blockchain intelligence firm Arkham, said data indicated that billions of dollars appeared to have been hacked from Binance by an unknown actor.
The incident adds to a string of crypto thefts. Last year, attackers stole $2.9 billion worth of cryptocurrency across nearly 150 attacks, according to researchers at TRM Labs. In September, cryptocurrency exchange Bitget said roughly $350 million in crypto had been stolen from its platform, underscoring the industry’s vulnerability to hackers.
Authorities have warned that organised crime groups are increasingly using cryptocurrencies to move funds across borders outside the traditional financial system.
Binance.US, a separate cryptocurrency exchange, said it was not affected by the security incident.
Coinbase COIN.O said it was unaffected and was monitoring the situation.
In an unrelated incident earlier on Thursday, prediction market operator Polymarket temporarily halted trading after a security incident involving a third-party provider. It later resumed trading and said it would fully reimburse affected traders.
Where Binance’s $6.3 billion breach ranks in crypto’s biggest hacks and heists
Time period
Company
What was stolen
What happened
February 2025
Cryptocurrency exchange Bybit
Digital tokens worth $1.5 billion
The crypto was taken from a “cold wallet” – a digital wallet usually stored offline and so supposedly more secure – that was used for ether tokens.
March 2022
Ronin Network, a network that allows transfer of crypto coins across different blockchains
Roughly $540 million from a blockchain project linked to the popular online game Axie Infinity
Hackers stole some 173,600 ether tokens and 25.5 million USD Coin tokens.
February 2022
Wormhole, a DeFi site
$320 million
Hackers making off with 120,000 digital tokens connected to the second-largest cryptocurrency, ether. The crypto arm of Chicago-based Jump Trading, which had the year before acquired the developer behind Wormhole, later replaced the funds.
August 2021
Poly Network, a platform that facilitates peer-to-peer token transactions
$610 million (Hackers behind the heist later returned nearly all of the stolen funds)
The hack underscored vulnerabilities in the burgeoning decentralised finance, or DeFi, sector, where users lend, borrow and save in digital tokens, bypassing the traditional gatekeepers of finance such as banks and exchanges.
January 2018
Tokyo-based exchange Coincheck
$530 million
The thieves attacked one of Coincheck’s “hot wallet” – a digital folder stored online – to drain the funds, drawing attention to security at exchanges.South Korea’s intelligence agency said at the time that a North Korean hacking group may have been behind the heist.
Between 2011 and 2014
Tokyo-based bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox
Bitcoin worth close to $500 million was stolen in one of the earliest and most high-profile crypto hacks.
Mt. Gox, which once handled 80% of the world’s bitcoin trade, filed for bankruptcy in early 2014 after the hack was revealed, with some 24,000 customers losing access to their funds.
Manila, 30 oct (Prensa Latina) Filipinas busca hoy fortalecer sus vínculos de defensa con India y Corea del Sur mediante proyectos de modernización militar, seguridad marítima, capacitación e intercambios entre sus fuerzas armadas, informó el Departamento de Defensa Nacional.
A Christine Lagarde (París, 70 años, de soltera Christine Madeleine Odette Lallouette) le gusta enviar mensajes con su atuendo. Elige cuidadosamente sus pañuelos (hay quien cree adivinar en ellos sus intenciones) y, en momentos especialmente delicados, comparece en la rueda de prensa del BCE con un broche característico: un búho. En un mundo, el de la política monetaria, habitualmente dividido entre halcones, banqueros con poca tolerancia por la inflación y gatillo fácil a la hora de subir tipos, y palomas, más sensibles al efecto del dinero caro sobre la economía, Lagarde se desmarcaba con esta otra ave.
Los letones no se fían de sus “simpáticos vecinos”. Tal es así que usan con cierto hábito este atajo lingüístico, lleno de retintín, antes que hablar a las claras de rusos y bielorrusos. Con estos dos viejos aliados de la vasta llanura, Letonia ― con 1,8 millones de habitantes― comparte más de 450 kilómetros de su frontera este. Es por esto que su linde forma parte de lo que, entre la tropa, se denomina flanco oriental de la OTAN y la Unión Europea. Consecuencia: está en la diana del enemigo número uno, esto es, de Rusia. En mayo, la colisión de tres drones que volaban desde el frente de batalla ucranio hizo saltar por los aires la coalición del Gobierno letón. En solo cinco meses, el país báltico se ha blindado defensivamente gracias, en parte, al empuje de la producción local de vanguardia de armas autónomas. Pero el temor continúa.
Los contornos de la batalla política europea en su superaño electoral van dilucidándose. El ciclo arrancará con las elecciones generales en España en noviembre de 2026 y se cerrará, previsiblemente, con las italianas en diciembre de 2027, si Giorgia Meloni no las anticipa. Entre tanto, habrá votado la mitad de la población europea en sus principales estados miembros salvo Alemania, si Friedrich Merz resiste. La discusión sobre la idea de Europa se estructurará en torno a, por un lado, las fuerzas políticas de centro europeísta y, por el otro, a los partidos de la contestación patriótica, cuyo proyecto para el futuro de la UE es la repatriación de poderes hacia las capitales nacionales.
Login
