In recent developments North Korean hackers A group associated with the infamous Lazarus Group used coin mixing service Tornado Cash to launder approximately $12 million worth of stolen Ethereum (ETH) within the past 24 hours.
This incident follows the theft of $100 million worth of cryptocurrency from the HTX cryptocurrency exchange and HECO Bridge in November 2023, which blockchain analytics firm Elliptic and other experts attributed to Lazarus Group.
$100M Cryptocurrency Heist and Ethereum Laundering Revealed
that much Lazarus Groupa well-known cybercrime organization known to be backed by the North Korean regime, has a long history of high-profile hacking campaigns.
According to Elliptic’s latest cryptocurrency crime: reportIn November 2023, the infamous Lazarus Group reportedly orchestrated a massive heist targeting the HTX cryptocurrency exchange and cross-chain bridge, stealing $100 million in various cryptocurrencies, including Ethereum.
Evidence gathered by Elliptic and other experts pointed to the involvement of the Lazarus Group based on its modus operandi and subsequent movement of stolen funds.
The survey also points out that according to their “general pattern”: Crypto LaunderingHackers quickly converted the stolen tokens to Ethereum through a decentralized exchange (DEX).
The illegally acquired Ethereum funds were left dormant by hackers as recently as March 13th. tornado cache. Tornado Cash is a decentralized smart contract-based mixer that was previously sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury in August 2022 for laundering $455 million from the Lazarus Group cryptocurrency hack.
However, the decentralized nature of Tornado Cash’s operations prevented it from being shut down like centralized mixers like Sinbad.io.
Last resort for the Lazarus group.
According to a blockchain analysis firm, sanctions imposed At Tornado Cash, Lazarus Group focused on using Sinbad.io as an alternative cross-chain bridge and Bitcoin-based mixer.
However, Sinbad.io itself was seized by US authorities in November 2023, eliminating another mixing option available to hackers. As a result, the group appears to have returned to Tornado Cash, using its decentralized architecture and resistance to raids to launder large-scale money and obscure the tracking of transactions.
Ultimately, Elliptic suggests that Lazarus Group’s renewed reliance on Tornado Cash could be due to “reduced availability.” large scale mixer Due to law enforcement activity targeting services such as Sinbad.io and Blender.io.
With few viable alternatives, the group took advantage of Tornado Cash’s continued operation despite sanctions and leveraged the security of smart contracts and the decentralized nature of blockchain networks.
As of this writing, Ethereum is currently trading at $3,870. earlier this week Best in 2 years $4,084; However, it has failed to sustain integration beyond this level. As a result, the price of ETH fell by 2.5% in the last 24 hours.
Featured image from Shutterstock, chart from TradingView.com