Lazarus, the famous cyber bandits of North Korea is famous for some of the biggest digital currency exploits. If we get into statistics, the hacker group is behind almost $3 billion cryptocurrency hacks in just three years.
Arkham, the blockchain analysis firm, reports that the notorious hackers have over $79 million held in a wallet. The recent actions of the famous hacker group drew a lot of attention again as they transferred about $1.2 million to a holding wallet. Arkham has played a significant role in Blockchain analysis for cybercrime.
The role of coin mixers in all this
The notorious group who is well-known for cryptocurrency cyber attacks used a coin mixer which is naturally very convenient for them on this venture. Why coin mixers? Well, it is a way that sheds a curtain on the owner of the cryptocurrency by mixing coins from various users.
Given how badly the Lazarous group has thrashed bitcoin cybersecurity, using a coin mixer made it extra difficult to have a track on this.
Typically, after a few challenges are bypassed, cryptocurrencies are traceable. However, as the coin mixers offer such cloak of anonymity, it gets extra difficult to trace the involvements of blockchain hacks.
Arkham sheds a light on the numbers of the Lazarus Group
While it has been challenging to take a step along with the ‘North Korea Cybercrime’ group, Arkham has shed some light on the statistics of the wallet. The wallet currently holds about $79 million of cryptocurrencies. It comprises about $3.4 million Ether and about $73 million Bitcoin.
According to the TRM labs, the notorious hacker group had their say in one third of all the blockchain hacks in 2023. It is reported to be around $600 million. The crypto community is seeking for further security and tracking ability of such transactions.
A little insight on the pattern of the North Korea Cybercrime group
Speaking of cryptocurrency transactions, the North Korea Cybercrime group has a certain way of acting, according to the TRM labs. These notorious hackers conduct almost all of its attacks by compromising the vital security elements of the digital wallets, such as seed phrases and private keys.
The bandits then transfers the currency from its victim’s wallet to the wallet controlled by the North Korean operatives. They shamble the bitcoin cybersecurity as they proceed to swap them to USDT or Tron. After that, they get converted to hard currency by utilizing OTC brokers which are high-volumed.
Connecting the dots of these cyberattacks
By now, the whole digital currency community is well aware of the capabilities of the Lazarus group. The cryptocurrency fraudtracing by Arkham has also helped in more than one way. A well known developer from Metamask, known as Taylor Monahan has found some similarities between the recent orbit attack of $81 million to the ways the crypto bandits have worked in the past.
These insights and patterns will certainly help in the future. While the whole cryptocurrency community is afraid of the capabilities of the North Korea Cybercrime group, such insights and patterns may help to not only avoid such heists but also help trace any movements of the group.
How has the US Government responded to all these
The whole community had their eyes on the US government as to what they had to say in all these. Thankfully, they did as the OFAC had their plate busy with all these shenanigans and have now taken strong measures against all of these. They have sanctioned the famous crypto mixer, known as Blender.io for its part in the famous Ronin Bridge incident.
It is one of the biggest actions from OFAC so far. Furthermore, they have taken other notable steps against cryptocurrency cyber attacks. They have sanctioned the bigger platforms associated with anything close to the North Korean Cybercrime group.
The $1.2 million transfer serves as yet another reminder why there should be strong considerations towards the scalability and balance between decentralization and security when it comes to digital currencies
