Fbi has announced that north korean hacker groups lazarus group and apt38 are responsible for the harmony protocol hack. the attack occurred on january 13, and the groups laundered over $60 million of the stolen eth. the attack targeted a bridge connecting harmony, a layer-1 blockchain, to ethereum, bitcoin, and binance chain.
American government issued a federal cybersecurity alert in response to the attack, warning of spearphishing messages sent to employees of cryptocurrency companies. the treasury department also banned ethereum coin mixer tornado cash and numerous wallet addresses associated with the service. this ban was met with criticism from the crypto community, leading to a lawsuit from the crypto policy nonprofit coin center.
Korean hacker groups have been active since 2017, stealing an estimated $1.2 billion worth of cryptocurrency. the attack on the harmony protocol hack mirrors the $622 million hack of the ronin network, an ethereum sidechain used by play-to-earn crypto game axie infinity. the fbi has declared its commitment to exposing and combating the dprk’s use of illegal activities. the agency is attempting to freeze a portion of the funds, though some remain unaccounted for.
https://decrypt.co/119861/fbi-north-korea-lazarus-horizon-harmony-bridge-hack
