FBI Identifies 6 Bitcoin Wallets Related To Lazarus Hacker Group From North Korea

JAKARTA - The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has identified six Bitcoin wallets connected to North Korea's hacker group Lazarus. These six wallets contain US$1.580 BTC worth US$40 million (Rp604.3 billion) which is thought to have come from various cryptocurrency hacks over the past year.

In its investigation, the FBI found that the Lazarus Group had moved about 1,580 BTC linked to several attacks in the crypto world. The funds are currently at the following Bitcoin address:

3LU8wRu4ZnXP4UM8Yo6kkTiGHM9Bubgyig

39idqitN9tYNmq3wYanwg3MitFB5TZCjWu

3AUBbKJorvNhEUFhKnep9YTwmZECxE4Nk

3PjNaSeP8GzLjGeu51JR19Q2Lu8W2Te9oc

3NbdrezMzAVVfXv5MTQJn4hWqKhYCTCJoB

34VXKa5upLWVYMXmgid6bFM4BaQXHxSUol

The FBI warned crypto companies that the transfer of funds linked to North Korean hacker groups could be a sign that they are planning to sell. The federal investigation agency advises crypto companies to monitor these six BTC wallets and use blockchain data to track any movement of funds.

"The quantity of the private sector must check blockchain data related to these addresses and remain vigilant in avoiding direct transactions with, or from, their addresses," the FBI said in its announcement.

The North Korean hacker group has been actively involved in various hacks linked to crypto for years, stealing billions of dollars in crypto assets. The latest report from TRM Labs shows that these North Korean hackers have stolen nearly $2 billion in cryptocurrencies since 2018. The group was most active in 2022, by stealing nearly $1 billion (Rp15 trillion) in crypto assets last year alone.

The year 2022 saw several attacks on the largest decentralized finance (DeFi), and the Lazarus Group was identified as the mastermind behind the Harmony's Horizon bridge and Sky Mavis's $625 million attack on the Ethereum side of Ronin Bridge.

Although crypto-related attacks due to the vulnerability of the code on the platform and protocols have increased as increasingly sophisticated methods are used by these hackers, blockchain technology still makes it difficult for them to launder or move fraudulent profits due to a public ledger that allows tracking of the movement of funds.

Law enforcement agencies such as the FBI, along with crypto companies, have worked together on several occasions in the past to freeze funds linked to this kind of attack.

In February this year, Huobi and Binance frozen $1.4 million worth of crypto assets linked to North Korea. Similarly, assets worth 63 million US dollars (Rp951.7 billion) related to Harmony Bridge attacks were also frozen by crypto exchanges.