FBI Accuses North Korean Hackers of Stealing $100 Million in Cryptocurrency

Cryptocurrencies are a very volatile asset that we can see its value plummet or skyrocket in a matter of a few days. In addition to capturing the attention of half the world after becoming known for mining using graphics cards, today Bitcoin continues to be a cryptocurrency that millions of people are aware of. But precisely speaking of cryptocurrencies we cannot ignore the usual bad news, because now the fbi assures that they were hackers supported by North Koreathose who stole 100 million dollars in cryptocurrencies.

Cryptocurrency transactions are often promoted as completely secure thanks to blockchain technology. However, we have already seen several thefts and losses that have affected blockchain chains. In fact, billions of dollars have been lost due to hacking of this type. One of these was the one that occurred just over half a year ago, in June 2022, when the theft of 100 million dollars in cryptocurrencies was announced. Back then, the robbery was known to have occurred in Horizon Bridgea service operated by the blockchain harmony that allowed assets to be transferred to other blockchains.

The FBI blames hacker groups Lazarus and APT38 for the theft

The $100 million theft that occurred this past summer is back in the news. Now him fbi has reported in a statement that two groups of hackers were responsible for the theft of cryptocurrencies. Specifically, he mentions Lazarus and APT38 as the culprits for the hack that occurred on the Horizon Bridge. These hacker groups are very well known, especially Lazarussince they have been carrying out cyberattacks and thefts for more than a decade.

These began to be known after their “Operation Troy“, which took place between 2009 and 2012, where they were in charge of issuing DDoS attacks towards the government of South Korea. Later, in 2014, their target was Sony Pictures, where they managed to acquire more than 12,000 emails and represented an estimated loss of 200 million dollars. Secondly, APT38 is a much more recent hacker group, which became known a few years ago for being linked to North Korea and can be considered part of the Lazarus group.

On January 13, hackers laundered $60 million in Ethereum

Horizon was a disaster as software that allowed tokens to move between different blockchains. Well, although the idea was good, in practice these bridges between block chains became an easy target for hackers. In total, it is estimated that there was the theft of cryptocurrencies due to Horizon supposed a value of 2,000 million dollars divided into 13 different hacks. The FBI statement also gives more details about the hacker groups linked to North Korea in the theft of cryptocurrencies.

And it is that, it is indicated that on January 13, they used a privacy protocol called railgunwith which they got launder 60 million dollars in Ethereum. Part of this amount was sent to various cryptocurrency exchanges where it was converted to Bitcoin. All this money due to cryptocurrency theft and laundering by hackers will be intended to support North Korea’s ballistic missile and weapons of mass destruction projects.