The Lazarus Group, a notorious hacking collective affiliated with North Korea, has resurfaced with a new audacious crypto heist, this time targeting users of Atomic Wallet. Blockchain forensics firm Elliptic has identified the Lazarus Group as the perpetrators behind the attack and has estimated the losses to exceed a staggering $100 million, media reports said.
The hack was first acknowledged by Atomic Wallet on June 3, as they received reports of compromised wallets. Although they assured users that less than 1% of their active user base had been affected, no further updates have been provided since then, leaving many anxious about the fate of their funds.
Elliptic, diligently monitoring over 5,500 wallets believed to have fallen victim to the attack, made a groundbreaking revelation. They confirmed that the Lazarus Group, infamous for orchestrating the $100 million exploit of the Horizon Bridge a year ago, was indeed behind this latest crypto theft.
Following the occurrence of the theft, Elliptic has been engaged in relentless efforts to recover the pilfered assets. Through close collaboration with global investigators and exchanges, their endeavors have yielded a remarkable outcome, as they have successfully frozen more than $1 million of the stolen funds.
In a notable twist, the Lazarus Group has altered its tactics by turning to the Russian crypto exchange Garantex to launder the stolen assets.
The Lazarus Group’s malicious exploits have not gone unnoticed by global authorities. The U.S. government has previously linked them to the high-profile Ronin exploit, which resulted in the theft of a staggering $600 million worth of digital assets from the Axie Infinity sidechain.
Elliptic estimates that the group’s cumulative haul from various heists exceeds an astonishing $2 billion.
Tom Robinson, Chief Scientist and co-founder of Elliptic, expressed concern about the ongoing cyber threat posed by the Lazarus Group. He emphasized that while the details of the underlying exploit remain unknown, this recent crypto heist is undoubtedly a significant victory for the North Korean hackers.
