• The FBI announced that North Korean cybercrime groups were behind the hack of Horizon Bridge, draining $100 million worth of crypto.
• The two identified groups were Lazarus Group and APT38 and the stolen money was used to fund North Korea’s ballistic missile and Weapons of Mass Destruction programs.
• The hackers laundered more than $60 million worth of Ethereum (ETH) and converted it to Bitcoin (BTC) on various crypto platforms, with the cooperation of crypto service providers.
The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has confirmed that North Korean cybercrime groups were behind the hack of Horizon Bridge, a tool for cross-chain interoperability between Harmony, Binance Smart Chain, and Ethereum. The attack had drained a reported $100 million worth of cryptocurrency from the platform.
The two cybercrime groups, identified as Lazarus Group and APT38, allegedly used the stolen money to fund North Korea’s ballistic missile and Weapons of Mass Destruction programs. The FBI further stated that the criminal organization had laundered more than $60 million worth of Ethereum (ETH) on January 13, 2023. The transactions were done on RAILGUN – a privacy protocol.
Moreover, the FBI claimed that the hackers converted the laundered Ethereum (ETH) into Bitcoin (BTC) on various crypto platforms. Allegedly, the hackers received some help from crypto service providers in stealing the funds. The FBI identified 11 Bitcoin addresses which received the stolen crypto.
The press release by the FBI read, “the FBI’s Cyber Division, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team, and the FBI’s Virtual Assets Unit—continue to identify and disrupt North Korea’s theft and laundering of virtual currency (…).”
The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has taken a hard stance against North Korean cybercrime groups, which have been accused of hacking Horizon Bridge and stealing $100 million worth of cryptocurrency. The FBI has identified two groups – Lazarus Group and APT38 – as the culprits behind the attack.
The stolen funds were allegedly used to fund North Korea’s ballistic missile and Weapons of Mass Destruction programs. The FBI further stated that the criminal organization laundered more than $60 million worth of Ethereum (ETH) on January 13, 2023, on the privacy protocol RAILGUN.
The hackers then converted the laundered Ethereum (ETH) into Bitcoin (BTC) on various crypto platforms. The FBI believes that the hackers received assistance from crypto service providers in stealing the funds. The FBI identified 11 Bitcoin addresses which received the stolen crypto.
The FBI has formed a coalition of law enforcement agencies to combat North Korean cybercrime, including the United States Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team, and the FBI’s Virtual Assets Unit. The coalition is committed to identifying and disrupting North Korea’s theft and laundering of virtual currency.
