The FBI has identified the Lazarus Group, a notorious cybercriminal organization linked to North Korea, as the perpetrator behind the recent hack of the cryptocurrency gambling platform Stake, which resulted in the theft of $41 million worth of cryptocurrencies. The Lazarus Group is infamous for its involved in a range of cybercrimes and is believed to be associated with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), commonly known as North Korea. The FBI's announcement on September 7 confirmed that the agency has initiated an investigation into the incident.
Stake is a platform offering various crypto gambling services, including casino games and sports betting. The attack occurred on September 4 when hackers targeted the platform's hot wallet, leading to the theft of the substantial sum. However, Stake's team has reassured users that only a A fraction of the funds was compromised, and user accounts remained unaffected.
The FBI has identified the specific addresses where the stolen funds are currently located, spanning Bitcoin, Ethereum, the BNB Smart Chain, and the Polygon network. In response, the FBI has urged cryptocurrency protocols and businesses to exercise caution and scrutinize these addresses, recommending against conducting any transactions directly with or originating from these addresses.
The Lazarus Group has been implicated in several other high-profile cryptocurrency-related hacks this year, including those targeting Alphapo, CoinsPaid, and Atomic Wallet. Combined, these attacks resulted in losses exceeding $200 million in 2023. Alphapo, a payment processor, saw over $65 million in suspicious withdrawals, while CoinsPaid, another payments company, experienced losses of more than $37 million through social engineering. In June, Atomic Wallet users lost $100 million due to an unidentified vulnerability.
