North Korea-backed hacker organization Lazarus Group was behind the US$41 million hack of online crypto gambling platform Stake.com on Monday, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) confirmed in a statement Wednesday.
See related article: Tornado Cash founders charged with money laundering crypto, including proceeds from North Korean heists
Fast facts
The stolen crypto assets were moved from Stake.com’s Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain (BSC), and Polygon networks to 33 different addresses, according to the FBI.
The FBI said hackers from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) have stolen over US$200 million of digital currencies this year, including funds siphoned off Alphapo and CoinsPaid crypto platforms earlier this year.
U.S. authorities had said that funds stolen by DPRK-backed cyber actors are used to support North Korea’s weapons programs.
Lazarus Group previously used the now-sanctioned Tornado Cash to move illicit funds. But after the sanctions, Lazarus utilized chain-hopping to launder some of the funds stolen from Ronin, according to Chainalysis.
Meanwhile, the U.S., Japan and South Korea on Aug. 18 agreed to establish a trilateral working group to tackle North Korean cyberattacks as early as next month, according to South Korea’s KBS News.
See related article: North Korean hackers move 41,000 ETH stolen from Harmony Bridge attack
