600 million dollars in cryptocurrencies stolen.
The FBI on Thursday blamed hackers linked to the North Korean government for stealing more than $ 600 million in cryptocurrencies last month from a video game company – the latest in a string of high-profile Pyongyang-linked cyber-robberies.
“Through our investigation we were able to confirm that Lazarus Group and APT38, cyber actors linked to the DPRK, are responsible for the theft of $ 620 million in Ethereum reported on March 29,” the FBI said in a statement.
“DPRK” is an abbreviation of the official name of North Korea, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, and Ethereum is a technology platform associated with a type of cryptocurrency.
The FBI was referring to the recent hacking of a computer network used by Axie Infinity, a video game that allows players to earn cryptocurrencies.
Sky Mavis, the company that created Axie Infinity, announced on March 29 that unidentified hackers had stolen the equivalent of approximately $ 600 million – estimated at the time of the hack’s discovery – on March 23 from a “bridge” or network that allows users to send cryptocurrencies from one blockchain to another.
The U.S. Treasury Department on Thursday sanctioned the Lazarus Group, a large group of hackers believed to be working on behalf of the North Korean government.
The Treasury sanctioned the “wallet,” or cryptocurrency address, used to hack Axie Infinity.
Cyber-attacks have been a significant source of revenue for the North Korean regime for years after its leader, Kim Jong Un, continued to pursue nuclear weapons, according to a panel of United Nations and foreign cyber security experts. .
