---
title: "North Korea Is Using Hackers to Steal Money for Nuclear Bombs"
description: "North Korea's hacking division, APT 38, stole $1 billion from online banks and crypto exchanges in 2018. All that money is helping fund nuclear weapons."
date: "2019-04-03"
modified: "2019-04-03"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/north-korea-hackers-steal-money-nuclear-bombs"
categories:
  - "Blockchain"
  - "Cryptocurrency"
  - "Future Society"
tags:
  - "cryptocurrency"
  - "north korea"
  - "nuclear weapons"
  - "the digest"
---

# North Korea Is Using Hackers to Steal Money for Nuclear Bombs

![North Korea's hacking division, APT 38, stole $1 billion from online banks and crypto exchanges in 2018. All that money is helping fund nuclear weapons.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/north-korea-hackers-steal-money-nuclear-bombs.png>)
*\<em\>Image: Tag Hartman-Simkins\</em\>*

## APT 38

North Korea boasts an elite group of hackers, known as APT 38, that stole $1 billion from online banks and cryptocurrency exchanges last year.

The hacker team, which has [according to *Wired*](<https://www.wired.co.uk/article/north-korea-hackers-apt38-cryptocurrency>) established fraudulent cryptocurrencies and targeted digital money exchanges, is responsible for funneling money straight into the country's military — and even helping it fund nuclear weapons.

## Resourceful Workaround

To prevent North Korea from developing nuclear weapons, various nations have imposed sanctions and restricted imports. In response, *Wired* reports that APT 38 is going out and targeting [banks with weak security](<https://futurism.com/hackers-stole-20-million-mexican-bank>) and setting up crypto scams to get more money into military pockets.

"Security analysts are unanimous in assessing that the funds stolen by APT 38 – a significant percentage of North Korean GDP – are channeled into the DPRK's missile and nuclear development programs," an anonymous security expert told *Wired*.

## Decentralized Nukes

North Korea's APT 38 raises the stakes of cybercrime — now it's not just a matter of lost dollars but the possibility of new nuclear threats being funded by gullible crypto investors.

"We need to ask ourselves," another anonymous security expert told *Wired*, "when North Korea tests their next missile, is it really okay that they paid for it with bitcoin?"

**READ MORE:** [North Korea's elite hackers are funding nukes with crypto raids](<https://www.wired.co.uk/article/north-korea-hackers-apt38-cryptocurrency>) \[*Wired*\]

**More on cybersecurity:** *[Banks Are Under Siege by Sophisticated Hackers](<https://futurism.com/banks-sophisticated-hackers>)*

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)