Reports are emerging that the infamous North Korean hacking group, known as Lazarus Group, reportedly maintains a cryptocurrency reserve of over $47 million, predominantly made up of Bitcoin. These findings are courtesy of the institutional crypto platform provider, 21.co, which tracked 295 wallets linked to Lazarus, as identified by the US government.
The asset inventory stands close to 1,600 Bitcoin, 10,810 Ether, and 64,490 Binance Coin. However, it’s intriguing to note the decreasing value of the hacker group’s holdings, as the number was significantly higher at $86 million, around a time when Stake.com reported a substantial hack of about $40 million, with Lazarus in the suspects’ list.
In isolation, these figures offer an insightful peek into the operations of such a group. However, 21.co considers this a considerable underestimate, labeling it a “lower-bound estimation” based on facts available in the public domain. This assumption could mean that the actual stash harnessed through illegal activities could potentially be much higher.
Lazarus Group is a name tied with multiple significant cyber heists. A notable hit includes September’s cyber-attack on the crypto exchange CoinEx, siphoning at least $28 million worth of crypto. Other notable exploits involve a massive $620 million theft from Sky Mavis’ Ronin Bridge, followed by identical heists of $100 million each from Harmony’s Horizon Bridge and Atomic Wallet.
These activities paint a fascinating yet concerning picture of the cyber landscape. While cybercrime and crypto theft are widely perceived as anonymous individual activities, their systematic organization by a nation-state throws up some food for thought. This cyber criminal enterprise seems to have state backing, a fact that becomes more palpable when a White House official acknowledges the challenges in unravelling how North Korea has been so “creative in this space”.
According to the US government, North Korea funds half of its missile program through cybercrimes and crypto theft, adding another sinister layer to this murky world of cybercrime. It remains to be seen how nations and institutions can gear up their defenses and regulatory frameworks to tackle this intricate web of cyber heists.
Source: Cryptonews
