North Korean Hackers Attempt to Launder ETH Worth $27M from Harmony Bridge Attack

North Korean hackers behind the Harmony Bridge attack continue to attempt to launder crypto funds stolen in June 2022. As per the data reported on January 28, 2023, the preparators tried to transfer 17,278 Ether, worth about $27 million.

According to the source, the Ethereum tokens were moved to six different crypto exchange networks without verifying the platforms receiving the tokens. Three main addresses carried out the transactions. 

The exchanges were notified about the funds and also about the freezing of stolen assets. The transactions made by the exploiters were very similar to the attempt made on January 13, 2023, when more than $60 million was laundered. 

The movement was done a few days after the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) confirmed that the Lazarus Group and APT38 were the criminals behind the $100 million hack. The FBI mentioned in a statement, “through our investigation, we were able to confirm that the Lazarus Group and APT38, cyber actors associated with the DPRK [North Korea], are responsible for the theft of $100 million of virtual currency from Harmony’s Horizon bridge.”

Harmony’s Horizon Bridge facilitates the transfers between Ethereum and Harmony network, Bitcoin and Binance chain. On June 23, 2022, many tokens worth millions of dollars ($100 million) were stolen from the platform. 

Following the exploit, Tornado Cash Mixer was used to process 85,700 Ether and was deposited at multiple addresses. On 13th Jan, criminals began to shift over $60 million worth of stolen funds through the Ehterum-based privacy protocol RAILGUN. According to the analysis over 350 addresses have been associated with the attack through the exchanges in a shot to escape verification. 

Lazarus has been implicated in several major crypto breaches and is a well-known hacking syndicate. In March 2022, the group was involved in the $600 million Ronin Bridge hack.

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