North Korea’s AI-Powered Hackers Are Redefining Crypto Crime
North Korean hackers are leveraging AI to automate and scale sophisticated crypto attacks, posing a greater near-term threat than quantum computing.Summary
Kostas Chalkias, co-founder and chief cryptographer of Mysten Labs, warns that North Korea's state-backed hacking units, like the Lazarus Group, are integrating Large Language Models (LLMs) into every stage of their crypto theft operations, from reconnaissance and code analysis to laundering proceeds. This AI integration allows them to analyze vast amounts of open-source code, quickly identify mirrored vulnerabilities across different blockchains, and scale their attack surface dramatically, making theft easier and faster than relying on numerous human programmers. Chalkias asserts that AI presents a more immediate and tangible threat to blockchain security than quantum computing, which he believes is still at least a decade away from breaking modern cryptography. While quantum threats are theoretical, AI is actively being used now to execute record-breaking hacks, such as the $1.5 billion Bybit breach attributed to Pyongyang. The danger lies in AI's ability to automate social engineering, deepfakes, and obfuscation techniques, allowing North Korea to make its attacks nearly invisible without needing advanced quantum capabilities.
(Source：CoinDesk)