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Comment by ForHackernews | Hacker News Reader

Is this a "hack"? I read some articles saying they had valid multisig authority to transfer the ETH. Blockchain security working as intended.

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Of course it’s a hack.. I doubt the exchange owners wanted to send their entire balance to the North Korean military. That the multisig signers were compromised is no different than if a bank CEO had his machine hacked and a wire initiated on his behalf.

Whose to say they don't get a cut on the back end? Sounds like a nice exit strategy to me if you want plausible deniability.

Sure, but that’s just two crimes instead of one crime. They don’t negate.

The point isn't whether you commit a crime, it's whether you get caught.

> is no different than if a bank CEO had his machine hacked and a wire initiated on his behalf

Those are not equivalent because the traditional banking sector is less vulnerable to North Korea. In theory a bank could be drained of $1b via a misdirected wire, but in practice that kind of plan is hampered by real-world controls and limitations applicable to international banking.[1] North Korean hackers instead focus on what works, which is crypto.

[1] https://pacforum.org/publications/yl-blog-89-crypto-north-ko...

Code is law: if the owners hadn't intended to fund North Korea, they wouldn't have done so. I hope you're not suggesting some kind of interventionist third party trying to revert what has already been inscribed on the blockchain?

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