A recent investigation has shed light on a growing concern for the cryptocurrency industry: insider threats. According to the Ketman Project, which was supported by ETH Rangers, around 100 suspected North Korean operatives were discovered within various crypto firms.
The researchers spent six months tracking these individuals, who used fake names and altered work histories to evade detection during hiring. The probe revealed that these workers were not isolated to a single firm, but rather appeared across different crypto companies and teams, indicating a more organized and sustained effort.
This shift in tactics has raised the stakes for security teams, who must now contend with insider threats that can go undetected by traditional firewalls and wallet controls. As such, hiring checks and access controls have become increasingly important to prevent these types of attacks.