N. Korea denies using online attacks to steal

SEOUL : North Korea yesterday denied allegations that it had obtained US$2 billion (S$2.8 billion) through cyber attacks on banks and cryptocurrency exchanges, and accused the US of spreading rumours.

A United Nations report seen by Reuters last month said North Korea had used "widespread and increasingly sophisticated" cyber attacks to steal from banks and cryptocurrency exchanges, amassing US$2 billion which it used to fund weapons of mass destruction programmes.

"The United States and other hostile forces are now spreading ill-hearted rumours," North Korea's state-run KCNA news agency reported, citing a statement from the spokesman for the National Coordination Committee of the DPRK for Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism.

"Such a fabrication by the hostile forces is nothing but a sort of a nasty game aimed at tarnishing the image of our republic and finding justification for sanctions and pressure campaigns against the DPRK," the statement said.

Pyongyang has been blamed in recent years for a series of online attacks, mostly on financial networks, in the US, South Korea and over a dozen other countries, as experts say such cyber activities generate hard currency for the regime. - REUTERS