FBI Confirms North Korean Group 'Lazarus' Responsible For $100M Harmony Hack

The Federal Bureau of Investigation on Monday confirmed that North Korean cybercrime group "Lazarus Group" is responsible for last year's massive $100 million breach of Harmony Protocol.

What Happened: According to a press release by FBI, six months after the initial heist, over $60 million worth of stolen Ethereum ETH/USD was laundered on Jan.13, leading law enforcement to identify North Korea’s Lazarus Group and APT38 as the masterminds behind the cyber attack.

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The hack targeted a cross-chain bridge connecting Harmony, a layer-1 blockchain, to Ethereum, Bitcoin BTC/USD and Binance Chain. This attack bears the hallmarks of past high-profile attacks associated with Lazarus Group, such as their massive $622 million hack of Ronin Network last April, an Ethereum sidechain used by the popular play-to-earn crypto game Axie Infinity. 

"The FBI will continue to expose and combat the DPRK’s use of illicit activities — including cybercrime and virtual currency theft — to generate revenue for the regime," the FBI release read.

Price Action: BTC was trading at $23,083, up 1.45% in the last 24 hours, according to Benzinga Pro data.

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