DPRK and Iran are Leading a 5.2x Surge YoY in Blockchain-Assisted Cyberattacks

Chainalysis details the rise of "blockchain dead drops" (BDDs), techniques where threat actors embed malware payloads or C2 configuration on public blockchains to achieve takedown-resistant, long-lived command-and-control; the report documents a ~420–440% surge in malicious on-chain writes after permissive open-source AI models appeared, provides case studies linking DPRK, Iranian state actors and Russian-language cybercriminals to transaction- and contract-based BDDs across multiple chains, and recommends using blockchain analytics and RPC monitoring to detect and disrupt these resilient campaigns.