North Korean Cybercriminals Set to Dump $40 Million in Stolen Bitcoin
Reports indicate that North Korean cybercriminals are preparing to liquidate approximately $40 million in stolen Bitcoin. The FBI has disclosed that two North Korean hacking entities, Lazarus and APT38, have recently transferred roughly 1,580 Bitcoin within the last 24 hours.
These digital assets have been acquired through various cryptocurrency heists and are currently stored in six distinct wallet addresses:
3LU8wRu4ZnXP4UM8Yo6kkTiGHM9BubgyiG
39idqitN9tYNmq3wYanwg3MitFB5TZCjWu
3AAUBbKJorvNhEUFhKnep9YTwmZECxE4Nk
3PjNaSeP8GzLjGeu51JR19Q2Lu8W2Te9oc
3NbdrezMzAVVfXv5MTQJn4hWqKhYCTCJoB
34VXKa5upLWVYMXmgid6bFM4BaQXHxSUoC
Lazarus Group and APT38, both believed to operate from North Korea, are implicated in a series of cryptocurrency breaches earlier this year, including the theft of $60 million from the payment processor Alphapo and a $100 million exploit targeting Atomic Wallet. The FBI had previously linked these groups to the Horizon Bridge hack in 2022, resulting in losses exceeding $100 million.
These North Korean hackers have a track record of involvement in numerous cryptocurrency-related exploits over the years, leading to the theft of billions of dollars in cryptocurrency assets. Recent findings from TRM Labs suggest that North Korean hackers have pilfered nearly $2 billion in cryptocurrency since 2018. Notably, their activities peaked in 2022, with almost $1 billion in crypto assets stolen during that year alone.
2022 witnessed significant decentralized finance (DeFi) breaches, with the Lazarus Group identified as the mastermind behind notable incidents such as the Horizon Bridge compromise and the $625 million attack on the Ethereum-linked sidechain, Ronin Bridge, associated with Sky Mavis.
Despite the increasing sophistication of hacking methods and code vulnerabilities in cryptocurrency platforms and protocols, blockchain technology remains a significant hurdle for cybercriminals seeking to launder or transfer their illicit gains. The transparency of the public ledger enables the tracking of fund movements.
Law enforcement agencies, such as the FBI, have previously collaborated with cryptocurrency companies to freeze funds connected to such breaches. Earlier this year, both Huobi and Binance froze $1.4 million in cryptocurrency assets linked to North Korea. Similarly, crypto exchanges froze $63 million in assets associated with the Harmony Bridge hack.
