🚨Cosmos cofounder blames Iqlusion's Zaki Manian for North Korea-linked security risks in network's liquid staking module🚨
•Cosmos co-founder Jae Kwon said a significant part of the network’s liquid staking module was developed by North Korean agents, which proceeded under the alleged negligence of Iqlusion’s Zaki Manian.
•Kwon called for the Cosmos governance community to immediately conduct a comprehensive audit of the LSM.
Cosmos co-founder Jae Kwon highlighted concerns about the integrity and security of Cosmos Hub’s liquid staking module in a post on Tuesday. It was revealed earlier that North Korean agents developed a significant part of the module.
“For sixteen months, the LSM was developed by individuals linked to North Korea, and their contributions were integrated into the Cosmos Hub without proper security vetting,” said Kwon, blaming the “gross negligence” of Cosmos validator hosting firm Iqlusion and its leader Zaki Manian.
Iqlusion and Manian started developing the LSM in August 2021 with Jun Kai and Sarawut Sanit. Later, Kwon claimed they were North Korean agents. Kwon claimed the two alleged agents contributed most of the code.
Despite knowing the involvement of North Korean agents since March 2023, as the Iqlusion leader admitted on social media, Manian hid the issue as well as other unresolved security issues until earlier this month, Kwon wrote in the post.
“Rather than taking proactive measures, such as conducting an additional audit or disclosing this issue to the Cosmos community, Zaki publicly asserted that the module was ‘ready to be deployed,’” Kwon stated. “Zaki’s lack of transparency and poor judgment represents a profound breach of the trust placed in Iqlusion by the Cosmos community,” he added.
