According to Cointelegraph, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has identified the North Korean Lazarus Group as the culprits behind the $41 million hack of crypto gambling site Stake. The announcement, made on September 7, also revealed that the group has stolen over $200 million worth of cryptocurrency in 2023 alone.
Stake, a platform offering casino games and sports betting, fell victim to a cyberattack on September 4, which drained over $41 million worth of cryptocurrency from its hot wallets. The Stake team assured users that only a small percentage of funds were taken and that they would not be affected.
Following an investigation, the FBI concluded that the notorious Lazarus Group, believed to be associated with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), also known as North Korea, was responsible for the attack. The FBI listed the addresses where the stolen funds are now held, which exist on the Bitcoin, Ethereum, BNB Smart Chain, and Polygon networks. The agency recommended that all crypto protocols and businesses review the addresses used in the hack and avoid transacting with them.
In addition to the Stake hack, the FBI also attributed the Alphapo, CoinsPaid, and Atomic Wallet hacks to the Lazarus Group, with total losses from these hacks amounting to over $200 million in 2023. Alphapo, a payment processor, suffered over $65 million in suspicious withdrawals on July 23, while CoinsPaid, another payments firm, lost over $37 million through social engineering in late July. Atomic Wallet users lost a staggering $100 million in June through an unknown exploit.
