Lazarus Group: The Hackers With a National Budget
Contents
Most hacking groups are motivated by profit. Lazarus Group is motivated by survival — the survival of a regime that cannot access the global financial system any other way. That distinction matters. It means there is no negotiation, no takedown that ends the campaign, and no risk calculation that makes the attacks stop. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has turned crypto theft into a line item in its national budget, and the results are now measured in the billions.
A State Actor in DeFi Clothing
Lazarus Group is not an independent collective. It operates under the Reconnaissance General Bureau, North Korea’s primary intelligence agency, and functions as a revenue-generating government agency with over 7000 operators. The proceeds fund weapons programs directly — a fact formally documented by the US Treasury, the FBI, and UN panels of experts across multiple reports.
The scale of that revenue has grown every year. In 2022, Lazarus …
A State Actor in DeFi Clothing
Lazarus Group is not an independent collective. It operates under the Reconnaissance General Bureau, North Korea’s primary intelligence agency, and functions as a revenue-generating government agency with over 7000 operators. The proceeds fund weapons programs directly — a fact formally documented by the US Treasury, the FBI, and UN panels of experts across multiple reports.
The scale of that revenue has grown every year. In 2022, Lazarus …