North Korean Hacking Group Lazarus Ramps Up Cryptocurrency Hacks
Blockchain surveillance firm Elliptic has released a report detailing the recent activities of North Korean hacking group Lazarus. Theย team has been increasingly active in the past few months and has been linked to five major digitalย currency hacks. Theย latest attack targeted worldwide exchange CoinEx, resulting in an estimated $54 Million in stolen funds. In total, Elliptic estimates that Lazarus has stolen nearly $240 Million in digitalย currency inย theย previous 104 days.
Ellipticโs analysis confirms that some of the funds stolen from CoinEx were laundered through an address previously used by Lazarus to steal funds from cryptocurrency casino Stake.com. The FBI had previously attributed $41 Million in stolen digitalย currency to Lazarus. On-chain sleuth ZachXBT likewise realizedย a connection between the CoinEx hack and the Stake hack on Twitter.
Methods Used by Lazarus
The hacker inย chargeย of the CoinEx attack used a bridge previously utilized by Lazarus to move stolen funds to Ethereumย (ETH) before transferring them to a wallet controlled by the hacker. A wholeย lotย of portion of the stolen funds originated from the Tron and Polygon blockchains. Elliptic likewise found that Lazarus mixed funds with addresses involved in other hacks, including the Atomic wallet hack worth $100 million.
Lazarus has recently targeted centralized platforms like CoinsPaid and Alphapo, possibly due to the feasibility of social engineering attacks against such targets. CoinEx has announced an open letter to hackers, requesting contact for negotiations regarding a bug bounty and return of funds.
Hot Take: North Koreaโs Lazarus Group Continues Its Digitalย currency Hacking Spree
The notorious North Korean hacking group, Lazarus, has intensified its hacking activities overย recentย months, targeting major digitalย currency exchanges and platforms. With the latest attack on CoinEx resulting in a staggering $54 Million theft, the total amount stolen by Lazarus in just over 3 months reaches nearly $240 Million. Theย team has been employing sophisticated methods, including laundering stolen funds through numerous blockchain addresses and exploiting vulnerabilities in centralized platforms. As they continue to evolve their strategies, it is critical for cryptocurrency users and platforms to remain vigilant and implement robust security measures to protect against such threats.
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