Exposing the Elaborate Scheme: North Korean Spies' Months-Long In-Person Heist to Steal $285 Million from Drift

The sophistication and precision of North Korean government-backed hackers have increased significantly, now accounting for over 76% or approximately $600 million in cryptocurrency losses this year alone. A notable example is the $285 million Drift Protocol exploit, which involved an unprecedented in-person social engineering attack. This elaborate scheme included months of face-to-face meetings between North Korean proxies and Drift employees.

According to Ari Redbord, Global Head of Policy and Government Affairs at TRMLabs, "North Korean proxies sitting across a table from protocol employees over a period of months" is a unique tactic in North Korea's crypto hacking campaign. Redbord emphasized that this is no longer just a remote operation.

The new report by TRMLabs highlights how North Korea's two main hacking groups, DPRK and Lazarus, are responsible for 76% of all cryptocurrency losses due to hacks and exploits in 2026. Redbord stated, "What we are watching is not a North Korean campaign that is broader — it is one that is sharper.

North Korea is moving faster and more precisely than ever." The report also notes that North Korea's cumulative crypto theft now exceeds $6 billion since 2017. The findings by TRMLabs coincide with the Wasabi Protocol exploit, which used a similar approach to the Drift hack on April 19, where the attackers used a compromised deployer key to drain $4.5 million. In contrast, the $292 million KelpDAO breach exploited a known single-verifier flaw.

The Drift exploit involved converting the stolen funds to USDC, bridging to Ethereum, and swapping into ETH, with no movement of the funds since the day of the theft, consistent with the DPRK's patient, multi-year cashout pattern. In contrast, Lazarus immediately laundered the KelpDAO proceeds through THORChain and Umbra, using Chinese intermediaries.

The Kelp DAO exploit led to DeFi's largest wipeouts, with $13 billion exiting several lending platforms, including Aave, which lost $8.54 billion in deposits over 48 hours, resulting in a nearly $200 million bad-debt crisis.