Infamous North Korean hacker group identified as suspect for $100M Harmony attack

The Lazarus Group, a well known North Korean hacking syndicate, has been identified as the first suspect within the latest attack that noticed $100 million stolen from the Harmony protocol. 

According to a brand new report revealed Thursday by blockchain evaluation agency Elliptic, the way during which Harmony’s Horizon bridge was hacked and the best way during which the stolen digital belongings have been consequently laundered bears a placing resemblance to different Lazarus Group assaults.

“There are strong indications that North Korea’s Lazarus Group may be responsible for this theft, based on the nature of the hack and the subsequent laundering of the stolen funds.”

Additionally, Elliptic outlined precisely how the heist was executed, noting that The Lazarus Group focused the login credentials of Harmony staff within the Asia Pacific area to breach the protocol’s safety system. After gaining management of the protocol, the hackers deployed automated laundering applications that moved the stolen belongings late at evening.

Elliptic additionally famous that the hackers have already transferred over 40% of the $100 million to Tornado Mixer, an Ethereum-based “mixing service” that obscures transaction information and makes it extraordinarily troublesome for investigators to hint the motion of funds.

Initially, the Harmony crew provided up a $1 million bounty as an incentive for the hackers to return the funds. However, on June 29, Harmony 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. Due to present market circumstances, the worth of the stolen Ether (ETH) has plummeted greater than 60% all the way down to $230 million.

A latest report from Coinclub.com signifies that North Korea has deployed 7,000 full-time hackers to boost 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.

Related: Harmony hacker sends stolen funds to Tornado Cash mixer

Harmony’s Horizon bridge is the newest addition to a rising checklist 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 largest token bridge to be hacked was Poly Network in 2021, which misplaced $610 million, virtually all of which has since been returned.