North Korea’s state-backed hackers have an “aggressive, relentless” knack for finding and exploiting vulnerabilities, making them more dangerous than other groups, a former FBI agent told Benzinga.

Social Engineering Hacks?

North Korean hackers pose an existential threat to cryptocurrency ecosystems, having stolen over $2 billion worth of assets in 2025 alone. Things have worsened in 2026, with April recording the highest number of cryptocurrency hacking incidents on record.

The U.S. government claims that the illegal proceeds from the thefts are used to fund North Korea’s weapons and missile program.

Stephanie Talamantez, who spent more than 20 years with the FBI and now serves as…

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