FBI Attributes Stake.com Hack to North Korea's Lazarus Group
The FBI believes they've cracked the case on the $40-million cyber heist from online gambling platform Stake.com, and guess who's at the top of their suspect list? North Korea's infamous Lazarus Group, of course.
Last month, the FBI released an announcement following a thorough investigation into the matter. They determined the culprits to be this notorious group, believed to have ties with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).
Lazarus Group is known for their upper echelon status in the world of state-sponsored cyberterrorism, and they've racked up a massive list of cybercrimes to prove it. These crimes are designed to help fund North Korea's government by any means necessary.
Lazarus's Playbook
The FBI shared a list of locations where the stolen funds ended up: bitcoin, ethereum, Binance Smart Chain, and Polygon networks. The agency has urged all blockchain monitors and cryptocurrency exchanges to keep a close eye on these addresses and refrain from any activities involving them.
The FBI also advises all companies to review a security advisory related to a complex malware program called TraderTraitor, which has been gaining traction. They recommend scrutinizing the blockchain records associated with the cryptocurrency addresses linked to the Stake.com breach thoroughly. These entities should remain vigilant and avoid any direct transactions that might have ties to these addresses.
Usually, the decentralized nature of cryptocurrency offers a major advantage - no central authority regulating transactions. But in this case, monitoring agents, miners, and others can track the activity, assisting exchanges in stopping money transfers and withdrawals.
Ed Craven, the founder and CEO of Stake.com, seemingly wasn't too worried about the hack. Following the news break, he reassured users that their funds were secure and that only a "small portion" of the company's reserve had been affected.
The North Korean Hacking Flurry
The FBI also links the Lazarus Group to hacks on Alphapo, Coinspaid, and Atomic Wallet. The outcome is a staggering $200 million in losses for the group this year alone.
Alphapo experienced a massive withdrawal of over $65 million on July 23, while Coinspaid, another payment processor, fell prey to social engineering tactics in late July, resulting in $37 million gone. In June, Atomic Wallet users lost $100 million due to an unknown security breach.
In April, the Ronin Network, a sidechain connected to the crypto game Axie Infinity, experienced a whopping $622 million theft. The U.S. Treasury pinned the blame on Lazarus Group after an investigation.
North Korean hackers have been targeting Latin America a lot lately. Kaspersky Labs reports five banking Trojan attacks per minute in the region. Cryptocurrencies are rapidly becoming the target of AI-powered scams, with North Korean hackers stealing $2 billion in cryptocurrencies since 2018.
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