2023-09-15 15:45:35
According to data from cybersecurity firm Arkham, the North Korean state-sponsored cyber threat group, the group Lazarus, has managed to obtain a staggering $1.7 billion in cryptocurrency-related hacks over the last year.
On September 15, Arkham revealed that Lazarus is responsible for looting millions of dollars in cryptocurrency in 2022 along with a series of recent high-profile hacks, amounting to more than $95 million in losses in the last 10 days.
In the past 10 days, the Lazarus Group has been linked to 2 separate hacks totalling >$95M in damage.
They’re a North Korean state-sponsored hacking organization, estimated to be responsible for $1.7 Billion of hacks during last year alone. pic.twitter.com/trERjofpBz
— Arkham (@ArkhamIntel) September 14, 2023
Lazarus Continues to Wreak Havoc
This occurs shortly following several Reports suggest that Lazarus was likely behind the recent Coinex hack last Tuesdaydraining a total of $54 million, which included 231 Bitcoin (BTC), 6,559 Ethereum (ETH), 137.128 million Tron (TRX), and several million in ERC20 tokens and stablecoins.
Recently, the FBI identified Lazarus as the main culprit in the theft of $41 million from Stake.com, an online casino and gambling platform. The state-sponsored hacking group is believed to have stolen over $255 million in cryptocurrency so far in 2023, with one of the largest attacks being that on Atomic Wallet that led to a loss of approximately $100 million in digital assets.
In July, Lazarus attacked Alphapo, a centralized cryptocurrency payments provider for online platforms, stealing more than $60 million. At the same time, The hacking group was blamed for the loss of at least $37 million from Estonian payment services provider CoinsPaid.
The frequency and scale of these recent attacks have put cryptocurrency exchanges and companies on high alert. On September 12, blockchain security firm SlowMist revealed an alarming trend, suggesting that the infamous North Korean cyber threat is actively attacking the crypto industry through an advanced persistent attack (APT).
APT is a broad term used to describe an attack campaign in which an intruder or team of intruders establishes an illicit, long-term presence on a network to extract highly sensitive data. These types of attacks are believed to be funded by the North Korean government and used as their cyber warfare weapons.
????SlowMist Security Alert????
Recently, we and our partners discovered a large-scale APT attack directed by the North Korean #LazarusGroup once morest the cryptocurrency industry.
The attack method is as follows:????
The attacker first disguises his identity, deceives the auditor… pic.twitter.com/XsM7F0bPcV
— SlowMist (@SlowMist_Team) September 12, 2023
Is Kim Jong Un in love with cryptocurrencies?
In the recent past, North Korea has been actively using stolen digital assets to fund its illicit weapons program. Recently, South Korea introduced a new cyber bill to stop cryptocurrency thefts from North Korea.
In a February report, blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis stated that most experts agree that the North Korean government is using these stolen assets to fund its nuclear weapons programs.
In a statement to CNBC, Nick Carlsen, an intelligence analyst at blockchain analysis firm TRM Labs, said that in In recent years there has been a marked increase in the size and scale of cyberattacks once morest cryptocurrency-related companies by North Korea which has coincided with an apparent acceleration in the country’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs. added:
“North Korea is under quite serious economic pressure with international sanctions. They need every dollar they can get. And this is obviously a much more efficient way for North Korea to make money.”
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