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The Lazarus Group, a widely known North Korean hacking syndicate, has been recognized as the first suspect within the current assault that noticed $100 million stolen from the Concord protocol.
In keeping with a brand new report published Thursday by blockchain evaluation agency Elliptic, the way during which Concord’s Horizon bridge was hacked and the way in which during which the stolen digital property have been consequently laundered bears a hanging resemblance to different Lazarus Group assaults.
“There are robust indications that North Korea’s Lazarus Group could also be answerable for this theft, based mostly on the character of the hack and the next laundering of the stolen funds.”
Moreover, Elliptic outlined precisely how the heist was executed, noting that The Lazarus Group focused the login credentials of Concord staff within the Asia Pacific area to breach the protocol’s safety system. After gaining management of the protocol, the hackers deployed automated laundering packages that moved the stolen property late at night time.
Elliptic additionally famous that the hackers have already transferred over 40% of the $100 million to Twister Mixer, an Ethereum-based “mixing service” that obscures transaction knowledge and makes it extraordinarily tough for investigators to hint the motion of funds.
Initially, the Concord group supplied up a $1 million bounty as an incentive for the hackers to return the funds. Nevertheless, on June 29, Concord upped the bounty to $10 million and claimed {that a} full return of funds would finish the investigation and no additional felony costs can be pursued.
The $600 million Ronin bridge hack, which occurred in April, has additionally been linked again to The Lazarus Group. Resulting from present market situations, the worth of the stolen Ether (ETH) has plummeted greater than 60% right down to $230 million.
A current report from Coinclub.com indicates that North Korea has deployed 7,000 full-time hackers to lift funds via cyberattacks, ransomware and crypto protocol hacks. North Korea is the world chief in cryptocurrency-related crime, with over 15 documented cases of cyber theft amounting to roughly $1.59 billion in stolen funds.
Associated: Concord hacker sends stolen funds to Twister Money mixer
Concord’s Horizon bridge is the newest addition to a rising record of token bridges which have been attacked, together with Meter, Wormhole and Ronin, bringing the entire quantity of bridge token-related theft to slightly over $1 billion in 2022 alone.
The biggest token bridge to be hacked was Poly Community in 2021, which misplaced $610 million, nearly all of which has since been returned.
