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Report: North Korea may be behind South's cryptocurrency hacks

By Yonhap News Agency
South Korean soldiers stand guard at the joint security area (JSA) of Panmunjom in the demilitarized zone near Paju, South Korea, on September 12, 2017. File Photo by Keizo Mori/UPI
South Korean soldiers stand guard at the joint security area (JSA) of Panmunjom in the demilitarized zone near Paju, South Korea, on September 12, 2017. File Photo by Keizo Mori/UPI | License Photo

Dec. 16 (UPI) -- South Korea's spy agency suspects North Korea might be involved in recent hacking incidents related to cryptocurrency, according to sources on Saturday.

The National Intelligence Service (NIS) is said to have secured evidence that the North was involved in stealing the personal information of some 30,000 people from Bithumb, the country's biggest cryptocurrency exchange, back in June, as well as robbing virtual money at another exchange Coinis in September.

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The NIS reportedly confirmed that the same code used by Lazarus, a group accused of being behind the 2014 Sony hack, was used in the previous two cases.

The evidence is said to have been passed to the prosecution for further investigation. The Supreme Prosecutors' Office has been handling the former case, while the latter is being taken care of by local police.

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