According to the U.S. Justice Department announced Thursday, North Korean hackers stole more than $400 million in cryptocurrency over the past 18 months using a social-engineering scheme called "FaceStealer." The operation combines secretly recorded webcam footage and AI-generated deepfakes to impersonate trusted contacts during video calls. Attackers lure targets into meetings using stolen accounts, play prerecorded footage to establish trust, then deploy deepfake videos of known crypto industry figures to enhance credibility. Once the target is at ease, hackers manufacture a fake technical glitch and offer a malicious link to install malware, eventually draining wallets or accessing other systems. The DOJ tied the operation to North Korean groups including Sapphire Sleet, BlueNoroff and APT38. The FBI said it seized over 900 webcam recordings of victims and warned the group has increasingly targeted open-source software developers in apparent supply-chain attack preparation.
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