Ep. 5: The Heists

In the decade after Sony, North Korea learned something fundamental: Destructive cyberattacks make headlines. Financial cyberattacks make money. One year after Sony, North Korea pulled off one of the most audacious bank heists in history and reshaped cybercrime in the process. Today, the regime has expanded those same tactics into billion dollar cryptocurrency heists and sprawling money laundering schemes designed to evade sanctions and bankroll the state – and its nuclear weapons program.
Host and former New York Times cybersecurity reporter Nicole Perlroth traces how North Korea evolved from its record-setting hack of the Bank of Bangladesh, to the cryptocurrency hacks that now generate half the regime’s foreign currency income, and in the process became one of the most innovative cybercriminal enterprises on earth.
To Catch a Thief is co-produced by Nicole Perlroth and Rubrik in partnership with Pod People.
To Catch a Thief was written and produced by Nicole Perlroth, along with Khrista Rypl, T. J. Raphael, Rebecca Chaisson and Sam Gebauer. Additional thanks to Allie Pinel, Fendall Fulton, Krissy Clark, Cai Lee, Eunice Park and Aimee Machado. Editing and Sound Design by Erica Huang. Art direction and design by Ben Long, Gareth Strange and Sarah Burley at the John & Jane Agency, and support from John Leestma.