Non-profit Web3 security research organization
The Security Alliance, a nonprofit research organization focused on Web3 security, has launched several initiatives aimed at enhancing industry security, including Wargames, SEAL 911, SEAL Intel, and Safe Harbor.
According to Cointelegraph, the Ethereum Foundation stated that its funded Ketman project identified 100 North Korean IT personnel operating covertly within Web3 organizations over a six-month period and issued warnings to approximately 53 projects indicating they may have hired such individuals. The project focuses on the issue of “fraudulent developers” in the crypto industry and is part of the ETH Rangers Public Safety Grant Program. Ketman has also developed an open-source detection tool for identifying suspicious GitHub activity and collaborated with the Security Alliance to co-develop an industry-wide identification framework for detecting North Korean IT personnel.
Zerion disclosed that some of its corporate hot wallets were recently targeted by an AI-driven social engineering attack linked to North Korean hackers, resulting in losses of approximately $100,000. Zerion stated that user funds, applications, and infrastructure remain unaffected and proactively disabled its web application to mitigate risk. This incident marks the second such attack this month, following the $280 million breach of Drift Protocol, underscoring how North Korean hackers are leveraging AI to refine social engineering tactics—primarily targeting employees and developers at crypto firms. The Security Alliance (SEAL) tracked the hacker group UNC1069, which conducts low-pressure, multi-week social engineering campaigns across platforms including Telegram, LinkedIn, and Slack, using AI tools to edit images and videos to enhance attack efficiency.