In latest developments, North Korean hackers Firms related to the infamous Lazarus group used coin mixing service Twister Money to launder roughly $12 million value of stolen Ethereum (ETH) previously 24 hours.
The incident follows the November 2023 theft of $100 million in cryptocurrency from the HTX cryptocurrency alternate and its HECO Bridge, which blockchain analytics agency Elliptic and different consultants blamed on the Lazarus Group.
$100M Cryptocurrency Heist and Ethereum Cash Laundering Revealed
this Lazarus GroupThe group is believed to be a widely known cybercriminal group backed by the North Korean regime and has an extended historical past of high-profile hacking actions.
In response to Elliptic’s newest cryptocurrency crime report ReportIn November 2023, the infamous Lazarus Group allegedly orchestrated a significant heist in opposition to the HTX cryptocurrency alternate and its cross-chain bridge, ensuing within the theft of varied cryptocurrencies, together with Ethereum, value $100 million.
Proof gathered by Elliptic and different consultants factors to the involvement of the Lazarus Group primarily based on the modus operandi and subsequent motion of the stolen funds.
The investigation additional famous that following their “standard sample” Cryptocurrency cash launderingAfterwards, the hackers rapidly transformed the stolen tokens into Ethereum by a decentralized alternate (DEX).
These illegally obtained Ethereum funds lay dormant till just lately, on March 13, when hackers started passing them by twister money. Twister Money, a decentralized mixer primarily based on sensible contracts, was beforehand sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Division in August 2022 on account of its connection to the laundering of $455 million by the Lazarus Group cryptocurrency hacker.
Nonetheless, the decentralized nature of Twister Money’s operations prevents it from being shut down like centralized mixers like Sinbad.io.
The Lazarus Group’s final resort
In response to a blockchain analytics agency, concentrating on sanctions imposed On Twister Money, Lazarus Group is popping its focus to utilizing cross-chain bridges and Bitcoin-based mixer Sinbad.io as alternate options.
Nonetheless, in November 2023, Sinbad.io itself was seized by US authorities, eliminating one other hybrid choice for hackers. In consequence, the group seems to have returned to Twister Money, leveraging its decentralized structure and skill to face up to raids to launder cash on a big scale and obscure its transaction tracks.
In the end, Elliptic believes Lazarus Group’s renewed reliance on Twister Money might be attributed to “lowered availability” massive mixer As a result of legislation enforcement actions in opposition to companies similar to Sinbad.io and Blender.io.
With few viable alternate options, the group used Twister Money to proceed working regardless of sanctions, benefiting from the safety of sensible contracts and the decentralized nature of the blockchain community.
As of this writing, Ethereum is presently buying and selling at $3,870.Earlier this week it reached A two-year excessive $4,084; nevertheless, it did not maintain consolidation above that stage. In consequence, the worth of ETH fell by 2.5% previously 24 hours.
Featured picture from Shutterstock, chart from TradingView.com
