North Korean hacking collective Lazarus Group has been revealed to hold a significant sum of $47 million in cryptocurrency, with the majority of it being in Bitcoin (BTC), according to recent data from Dune Analytics and 21.co, the parent company of 21Shares.
This substantial digital asset holding includes $42.5 million in BTC, $1.9 million in Ethereum, $1.1 million in BNB (Binance Coin), and an additional $640,000 in stablecoins, primarily Binance USD. Notably, this amount appears to have decreased from the $86 million they held on September 6th, shortly after their alleged involvement in the Stake.com hack.
The Dune dashboard has tracked 295 wallets associated with the Lazarus Group, as identified by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). Surprisingly, these wallets do not contain any privacy coins, such as Monero (XMR), Dash, or Zcash (ZEC).
Furthermore, the group’s crypto wallets remain active, with the latest transaction recorded on September 20th. 21.co has suggested that the actual holdings of the Lazarus Group may exceed the reported figures, describing them as a “lower-bound estimation.”
The Lazarus Group’s recent attack on the CoinEx cryptocurrency exchange resulted in a loss of at least $55 million. The FBI has also attributed several other hacks, including those on Alphapo, CoinsPaid, and Atomic Wallet, to the Lazarus Group, with a total of over $200 million stolen in 2023.
Crypto thefts By North Korea-linked Hackers Down 80%
Nevertheless, Chainalysis reported that cryptocurrency thefts by North Korea-linked hackers had decreased by a significant 80% compared to 2022.
Despite the drop in thefts, Chainalysis cautioned against interpreting this as a sign of improved security or reduced criminal activity, emphasizing the high benchmark set in 2022. They warned that the cryptocurrency sector remains vulnerable, and a single large hack could quickly push stolen funds beyond the billion-dollar mark for 2023.
Erin Plante, Vice President of Investigations at Chainalysis, stressed the need for cryptocurrency firms to educate their employees on countering social engineering tactics commonly employed by hacker groups like Lazarus. These sophisticated tactics often exploit human trust and carelessness to gain access to corporate networks.
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