The FBI claims North Korea-linked hackers were behind a $100 million cryptocurrency heist last year on the so-called Horizon Bridge.
Budrul Cukrut | Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images
According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, North Korea-linked attackers were behind the theft of $100 million in cryptocurrency hacks last year.
The FBI said it was “confirmed” that two hacking groups with ties to Pyongyang, the Lazarus Group and APT38, were involved in the 2022 attack on the so-called Horizon Bridge.
Traders use bridges to exchange cryptocurrencies between different blockchain networks.
The FBI also said North Korean cyber attackers used the railgun system this month to launder more than $60 million in token Ether stolen in a June 2022 robbery. Railgun is a system designed to maintain the anonymity of people moving cryptocurrencies.
Some of the stolen ether was sent to multiple virtual asset service providers and converted to bitcoin, the FBI said.
At the time of the hack, blockchain analytics firm Elliptic said there were “strong indications” that Lazarus was behind the attack. Soon, the hackers tried to move the funds through means of obfuscating his identity.
The FBI said it will “identify and disrupt North Korea’s theft and laundering of cryptocurrencies used to support North Korea’s ballistic missile and weapons of mass destruction programs.”
North Korea-related attackers have been implicated in other cryptocurrency hacks.
Last year, the U.S. Treasury Department accused Lazarus of a $600 million heist on the Ronin Network, the so-called “sidechain” of the popular crypto game Axie Infinity.
– CNBC’s Ryan Browne contributed to this report.
