Lazarus Group and APT38 Hackers Confirmed to be Behind $620 Million Ethereum Crypto Heist

Urian B., Tech Times

15 April 2022, 12:04 pm

The FBI has officially claimed that North Korean-affiliated hackers were behind the recent massive $620 million crypto heist. This came after Axie Infinity, the popular NFT game, saw billions of Ethereum stolen in March of this year.

FBI Confirms North Korea-linked Hackers Behind $620 Million Crypto Hack

According to the story by News.Com.Au, the FBI confirmed that both the APT38 and Lazarus Group were behind the massive $620 million USD Ethereum heist that took place on March 29 of this year. Both the Lazarus Group and APT38 were said to be officially associated with the DPRK.

Crypto wallets that were linked to the Lazarus Group were then sanctioned by the US Treasury Department with claims that the hackers took orders directly from North Korea. Ari Redbord, the head of legal affairs at TRM, said that the heist was considered a bank robbery.

Crypto Heist Likened to Bank Robbery as Funds Go to Destabilization Activity and Weapons Proliferation

As per CNN, Redbord gave a statement saying the hack of a crypto business “is essentially bank robbery,” saying the stolen money funds the destabilizing activity and weapons proliferation of North Korea.

Redford said that as long as the hackers are successful and profitable, they won’t stop with their cyber attacks. The hackers used stolen private keys to target certain computers that were directly connected to Axie Infinity’s network to help confirm transactions.

Lazarus Group Estimated to be Behind $2.4 Billion Worth of Stolen Crypto

An article by Chainalysis showed the pipeline of how the Lazarus Group was able to steal an estimate of $2.4 billion worth of crypto. The January report stated that from 2020 to 2021, the number of North Korean-linked hacks increased from just four to seven.

As per the report, the value of the stolen crypto increased by 40% over that period. Once the funds were in possession of North Korea, they were then distributed in a process to cover up the funds and eventually cash them out potentially.

Meticulous and Structured Cash Out Process Points to the Hacks Being Carefully Planned

Due to how meticulous and structured the cash-out process is, the report states that the hackers carefully planned the attacks as they weren’t desperate or hasty. A report from BBC included a statement from Jack Kenny, who said that people don’t understand just how big the attack is, saying $600 million is a huge portion of the network’s assets.

Frances Coppola, an economist, and author, said that the recent hack exposed just how fragile online games are regarding cryptocurrency security. She stated that the incident was typical for crypto companies saying numerous hacks and exploits showed the lack of concern when it came to the safety of people’s funds.

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Written by Urian B.