Lazarus Hacker Group Targets Crypto Company In Japan

Hacker Lazarus is targeting crypto exchanges in Japan. (Photo; Doc. TechWireAsia)

JAKARTA – A prominent North Korean hacker group, Lazarus Group, is reportedly targeting crypto exchanges operating in Japan. In recent days, local Japanese media reported that Lazarus had attacked crypto trading companies there, as reported by the authorities.

Lazarus reportedly used a number of means including sending phishing emails to employees working at crypto companies. The hacker group also used social media to lure employees into installing the malware they sent.

Information only, phishing is a technique in which targeted emails are sent to victims to entice them to disclose personal information. Email addresses are often purchased on the dark web by hackers from data breaches targeting hardware or cold wallet providers such as Ledger.

The Japanese police also reported that several companies had fallen victim to hacking of internal systems resulting in the theft of cryptocurrencies. Following the attack, the National Police Agency launched an investigation which led them to the Lazarus group as the culprit.

Last weekend, the agency released a warning stating that it was likely that Japanese crypto firms had been the target of North Korea-related hacking groups for “several years.”

Katsuyuki Okamoto, from security firm Trend Micro, commented that “Lazarus initially targeted banks in various countries, but has recently targeted more loosely-managed crypto assets,” Okamoto Said, quoted by CryptoPotato.

Previously, the Lazarus group had also targeted technology workers through phishing attacks on LinkedIn. According to a report from the US blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis, it states that Lazarus stole $840 million in cryptocurrencies in the first quarter of 2022. Their biggest heist was the Ronin bridge break-in that occurred on March 29. Lazarus managed to steal funds amounting to IDR 7.7 trillion.

Chainalysis assessed that a third of the stolen funds were used to fund North Korea's nuclear weapons program, according to Anne Neuberger, the US deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technologies. The staggering amount of crypto stolen comes amid a deepening bear market, so when things turn around, groups like Lazarus are likely to step up their attacks on crypto exchanges.