U.S. Government Keeps Tabs on North Korean Cyber Actors, Cautions Public

On Monday, U.S. government organizations jointly cautioned the public of the cryptocurrency thefts and tactics of the Lazarus Group — a North Korean state-sponsored hacker collective. The announcement was made after the Treasury Department linked the group to the $615-million attack on Axie Infinity’s Ronin Network on Thursday.

Crypto researchers affirmed that an Ethereum wallet belonging to Lazarus Group contained funds that were siphoned from the Ronin bridge. According to the U.S. government, it has noticed that North Korean cyber actors have been targeting “cryptocurrency exchanges, decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols, play-to-earn cryptocurrency video games, cryptocurrency trading companies, venture capital funds investing in cryptocurrency, and individual holders of large amounts of cryptocurrency or valuable non-fungible tokens (NFTs).”

The organizations have since urged companies and individuals to patch their systems as well as train users to recognize and report phishing attempts and other cybercrimes in an effort to safeguard their crypto assets. Following the link made by the Treasury Department, sanctions have likewise been implemented which prohibit U.S. entities from making transactions with the Ethereum account that has been identified.

The blockchain data company Chainalysis also tweeted that “the attribution of the Ronin hack to Lazarus Group underlines two industry needs Chainalysis has highlighted previously: Understanding of how DPRK-affiliated threat actors exploit crypto, and better security for DeFi protocols.”

Lazarus Group has previously been tied to major cyberattacks in the past including a 2014 hack on Sony Pictures and the 2017 WannaCry ransomware attacks. It has also been observed that North Korea attempted to utilize crypto multiple times to evade sanctions. Similar concerns have been raised — particularly in terms of Russia evading sanctions — as digital assets continue to play a key role in the ongoing Russian-Ukraine conflict.

Sources: CoinDesk, CNBC