In summary
- A piracy union allegedly stole $ 28.1 million (₩ 39 billion) of financial and cryptographic accounts of 258 rich Koreans, including celebrities and the main business executives.
- The largest robbery of cryptography reached $ 15.4 million (₩ ₩ ₩ ₩ ₩ ₩ 21.3 billion), although the authorities have not specified what portion of total losses were in cryptography.
- The case exposes systematic vulnerabilities in Korea digital infrastructure, since international criminal organizations increasingly point to the country’s elite, Decrypt was told.
The Seoul Police has dismantled an international piracy ring that systematically addressed the richest people in South Korea, including the member of BTS Jungkook and the main business executives, after the group robbed $ 28.1 million (₩ 39 billion) of the financial and cryptographic accounts of the victims.
The Cyber Research Unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency announced the arrest of 16 suspects on Thursday, including two Chinese leaders who allegedly orchestrated the scheme of the bases in China and Thailand between July 2023 and April 2024, according to Korea Joongang Diar.
“This incident highlights a critical reality: international criminal organizations are systematically pointing to Korean entities, and most national institutions lack adequate defenses against their advanced piracy capabilities,” said Rich O., regional regional manager APAC of Hardware Wallet Onekey, he said Decipher.
According to the police, the criminal organization breached the governmental websites and financial institutions to steal personal data of rich objectives, then used this information to create more than 100 fraudulent telephone accounts that overlooked security systems and allowed unauthorized access to the wallets of victims and cryptographic wallets.
Although data from 258 high -profile people reaped data, including 28 cryptographic investors, 75 business executives, 12 celebrities and 6 athletes, real robbery attempts against only 26 people were made, whose combined account balances total $ 39.8 billion (₩ 55.22 billion).
Among them, computer pirates allegedly stole from 16 victims, with the largest robbery of cryptography reaching $ 15.4 million (₩ ₩ ₩ ₩ 21.3 billion).
Financial institutions blocked additional $ 18 million (₩ ₩ ₩ 25 billion) in attempts at robberies aimed at 10 other victims, thus avoiding greater losses.
“Main objectives” cryptography headlines
Cryptocurrency holders have become “main objectives”, but they are still just a segment of rich people pursued by computer pirates, said O.
He said the case marks “a new level of piracy threat” due to the “systematic piracy of government and financial institutions to outline rich people.”
In the case of Jungkook, the attackers allegedly tried to drain $ 6.1 million (₩ 8.4 billion) in Hybe Entertainment Stock Holdings in January after their military enlistment.
However, banking systems marked unusual activity, and their management company intervened, blocking unauthorized transfers.
The authorities froze successfully and returned $ 9.2 million (₩ 12.8 billion) to the victims through rapid response measures.
The two alleged leaders were arrested in Bangkok with the help of Interpol. One of the defendants has been extradited to Korea to face 11 positions, including network and economic crimes.
“This incident of omitting the authentication system that is not face -to -face is” unprecedented “, and the vast sums that are accessed” could have easily led to an even greater crime, “said the head of the second cyber investigation unit of the Metropolitan Agency of the Seoul Metropolitan Agency.
“Given repeated infractions of Korean government agencies and telecommunications carriers, a several layer defense strategy is essential,” he said or ..
He requested “stricter identity verification” for telecommunications services and the “Coordination of the Robust International Police” to combat cross -border operations of cyber crimes since “this involved Chinese criminal organizations.”
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