The FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) gave an update on the million-dollar Horizon Bridge crypto theft.
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A visual representation of the digital Cryptocurrency, Bitcoin on October 23, 2017 in London, England. Cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Lightcoin have seen unprecedented growth in 2017, despite remaining extremely volatile.
Horizon Bridge is a service that allows people to trade between the Harmony blockchain and other blockchains. In June 2022, unfortunately, hackers were able to breach the service's systems The crypto assets stolen were estimated to be more than $100 million.
FBI Gives Update on Horizon Bridge Crypto Theft
According to CNBC's latest report, the FBI announced that they were able to confirm that two North Korea-backed cybercrime groups are behind the massive crypto theft.
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An illustration picture taken in London on May 8, 2022, shows gold plated souvenir cryptocurrency Tether (USDT), Bitcoin and Etherium coins arranged beside a screen displaying a trading chart. - Tether (USDT) is an Ethereum token known as a stablecoin that is pegged to the value of the US dollar, and is currently the largest stablecoin with a market value of USD 83 billion dollars.
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The intelligence and security agency is specifically referring to the Lazarus Group and APT38.
The FBI said that these two cybercrime groups used the Railgun system to launder more than $60 million of stolen digital coins this January.
They were able to get away with it since the Railgun system is efficient in preserving people's anonymity when moving cryptocurrencies.
CoinDesk reported that other hackers are also using different technologies to convert stolen digital coins to fiat currencies.
They started doing this after the United States sanctioned the popular coin-mixing service Tornado Cash.
Over $3 Billion in Crypto Has Been Stolen
Ever since cryptocurrencies boomed, these digital coins became the main target of many cybercrime groups.
Chainalysis, an American blockchain analysis company, said that the year 2022 experienced higher crypto thefts compared to 2021.
The agency provided its data on Twitter, showing that hackers stole over $3 billion dollars across 125 hacks.
"Back in 2019, most hacks targeted centralized exchanges, and prioritizing security went a long way. Now a vast majority of targets are #DeFi protocols," said Chainalysis.
You can click this link to see more details of the Chainalysis report regarding hacks.
Other cybersecurity stories we recently wrote:
The T-Mobile security breach affected over 37 million subscribers.
Recently, a hacker claimed that e could put around 400 million Twitter user data for sale.
For more news updates about crypto hacks and other security threats, keep your tabs open here at TechTimes.
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