North Korea's espionage shifts DeFi threats to human targets

A sophisticated, six-month espionage campaign attributed to North Korea has exposed a new threat landscape in decentralized finance, moving beyond traditional smart contract vulnerabilities. Attackers reportedly used fake identities and in-person meetings to infiltrate the Drift protocol, leading to a $270 million exploit. This incident forces the DeFi community to rethink security, emphasizing operational security and human vulnerabilities over solely technical code audits. Experts now advocate for treating these sophisticated attacks as intelligence operations rather than simple hacks, highlighting the need for robust security programs that protect both technology and people.