A California computer security company has found software that installs a code for the Monero cryptocurrency and sends coins to a server at a North Korean university. If so, it is the umpteenth signal that North Korea may be looking for new ways to revitalize its economy, tightened by the grip of sanctions.
The application, created in December 24, uses host computers to extract a cryptocurrency called Monero. He then sends all the coins to Kim Il Sung University in Pyongyang, said computer security company AlienVault, who reviewed the program.
"Crypto-currencies can provide a financial lifeline to a country hit hard by sanctions and, as a result, the universities of Pyongyang have shown a clear interest in cryptocurrencies," the California security company said in a statement, adding that the software "could be the latest product of their efforts".
The aforementioned company has specified that a North Korean server, used in the code, is not connected to the Internet in an open and wide way, which could give more substance to the fact that there is an interest to keep it almost hardly visible.
Kim Il Sung University did not immediately respond to requests for clarification. Government officials representing North Korea at the UN were not equally available to comment on the matter.
Others, however, have reported increasing signs of North Korean interest for cryptocurrencies and the underlying blockchain technology.
"With current economic sanctions, cryptocurrencies are currently the best way to earn foreign currency in North Korea. It's difficult to track down and can be recycled repeatedly, "said Mun Chong-hyun, chief analyst of South Korean IT security firm ESTsecurity.
The observers of the cryptocurrency say that the technical details of Monero, the thirteenth largest cryptographic resource in the world, according to www.coinmarketcap.com, with a total value of over 7 billion dollars, make it more attractive than bitcoins for those looking for the secrecy.
Monero funds go to a non-linkable, one-off address generated with random numbers each time a payment is issued. This makes them less traceable than bitcoins, where transactions can be linked to specific private addresses, even if anonymous.
Bithumb, headquartered in South Korea, is home to the world's busiest cryptocurrency exchange and is also the largest Monero trading exchange in the world, with around 24 percent of trade volume. The biggest ones were the exchange with HitBTC Europe and with Bitfinex, based in Hong Kong, starting from Monday.
Marshal Swatt, an expert in blockchain technology and financial exchanges, said that independence from cryptocurrencies from government regulation and sanctions made their choices logical for secret transactions.
"Such transactions in fact do not alone distinguish between good and bad actors," he said. "This makes it easy for countries like North Korea, Venezuela, Iran, Russia and other countries to leverage these non-government blockchain currencies for their own sake."
The computer security company FireEye cited a series of North Korean activities against South Korean cryptocurrency goals in a November blog post. The analyst Luke McNamara wrote that "it should not be surprising that cryptocurrencies, as emerging asset classes, are becoming a target of interest by a regime that operates, in many ways, as a criminal enterprise".
At the beginning of November, Federico Tenga, Italian co-founder of the bitcoin startup Chainside, published photos and comments on his visit to the bitcoin and blockchain technology conference at the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology in his Twitter account. financed by the West.
"The lessons were at a fairly basic level to give a general understanding of blockchain technologies, which are also very relevant to commerce, supply chains and other e-businesses," a university spokesman said.
"We believe this teaching can give the next generation of North Korean professionals additional concepts. "We are acutely aware of the problems related to sanctions, which we keep under constant scrutiny and we take care to avoid any sensitive or proscribed areas".
Tenga said his lectures were geared towards explaining the basic cryptocurrency technology.
"The focus of the lessons was to make students understand what blockchain is, how it works (particular attention to the demonstration of work) and what are the main use cases. My aim was simply to spread technical knowledge, not suggesting how to use it, "Tenga told Reuters in a series of messages.
The AlienVault report said that a North Korean IP address, 175.45.178.19, has been active on bitcoin trading sites. This is the same address used to control compromised Web servers in 2014-15 cyber attacks on South Korea's energy, traffic, telecommunications, broadcasting, financial and political networks, according to the security company AhnLab.
The report also noted that North Korea's IP addresses have downloaded several episodes of the Top Gear television series and documentaries from the former show host, James May.