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The Ethereum Foundation said it funded a six-month project that identified 100 North Korean operatives who had infiltrated Web3 companies under fake identities.
In a recap shared on Thursday, the foundation described its ETH Rangers program, launched in late 2024 to provide “stipends for individuals doing public goods security work” within the ecosystem.
One stipend recipient used the funding to build the Ketman Project, focused on investigating “fake developers” embedded within crypto, particularly operatives from the People’s Republic of Korea.
During the six-month stipend period, the Ketman Project identified “100 different DPRK IT workers operating within Web3 organizations” and contacted about 53 projects to alert them that they may have employed active DPRK operatives.
The Ethereum Foundation said the work “directly addresses one of the most pressing operational security threats facing the Ethereum ecosystem today.”
The foundation noted that North Korean operatives have been a persistent problem in the crypto sector, contributing to billions of dollars in crypto theft over the years. One of the best-known North Korean hacking groups is the Lazarus Group.
The Ethereum Foundation did not provide details on the specific methods used to identify the DPRK operatives. However, the Ketman Project’s website reportedly includes extensive articles describing the “tactics, behaviors and operational patterns” operatives use.
Those described indicators include technical red flags such as:
In addition to identifying DPRK operatives, the Ketman Project developed an open-source detection tool to identify suspicious GitHub activity. It also co-authored an industry-standard framework for identifying DPRK IT workers in partnership with the blockchain-focused nonprofit organization the Security Alliance.
Note: Ketman Project website articles on DPRK operatives. Source: Ketman Project
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