According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), hackers with ties to North Korea were responsible for the $100 million crypto heist in 2022, reported first by CNBC.
The attack on the so-called Horizon bridge in 2022 was carried out by Lazarus Group, a group of cyber hackers associated with Pyongyang or also known as APT38, according to the FBI.
In this photo illustration created in Washington, DC, on September 15, 2022, the Ethereum logo and a physical imitation of an Ethereum cryptocurrency are reflected between a phone screen and a computer screen. - Leading cryptocurrency figures hailed on on September 15, 2022, the completion of one of the biggest software upgrades the sector has ever attempted, an overhaul of the Ethereum blockchain aimed at reducing its massive energy consumption. Developers had spent years working on an energy-efficient version of Ethereum, a digital ledger that underpins tens of billions of dollars worth of cryptocurrencies, digital tokens (NFTs), games and apps.
Crypto Heist
The FBI said that North Korean hackers were responsible for the $60 million worth of the token ether plundered in June 2022 using the Railgun system. Railgun was created to aid in protecting users' privacy when transferring cryptocurrencies.
According to the FBI, some of the stolen ether was transferred to various virtual asset service providers and converted to bitcoin.
Blockchain analytics company Elliptic stated that there were solid indicators that Lazarus was responsible for the 2022 attack.
The hackers started moving the money around almost immediately in an effort to conceal their identity, as per CNBC's report.
The FBI says it has discovered and blocked North Korea's theft of virtual money, which is allegedly done to fund its development of ballistic missiles and other weapons of mass destruction.
Read also: North Korea's New Defense Law to Maintain Country's Nuclear Technology-No More Sharing of Nukes?
More Than 1 Billion
South Korea's spy agency recently claimed that North Korean hackers had plundered more than .5 trillion won ($1.2 billion) worth of bitcoin and other virtual assets in the past five years.
Other cryptocurrency attacks have also been connected to attackers from North Korea.
The US Treasury Department accused Lazarus of committing a $600 million heist last year on the "sidechain" for the popular cryptocurrency game Axie Infinity, Ronin Network.
According to SK's National Intelligence Service (NIS), North Korea has purportedly focused on cybercrimes since UN economic sanctions were strengthened in 2017 in response to its nuclear and missile tests.
From 2016 to 2017, North Korea was prohibited from exporting several vital products, including textiles, coal, and many others, due to UN sanctions.
The NIS estimates that since 2017, state-sponsored North Korean hackers have stolen virtual assets valued at $1.2 billion ($1.5 trillion) worldwide, including $800 billion ($626 million) in 2022.
NIS alleges that the stolen cash, totaling more than 100 billion won ($78 million), originated in South Korea.
According to the intelligence service, North Korean hackers intend to conduct additional cyberattacks in 2023 to obtain sensitive information on the national security and cutting-edge technologies of South Korea.
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