North Korean hackers stole US$41 million from gambling site: FBI

North Korea-backed hacker organization Lazarus Group was behind the US$41 million hack of online crypto gambling platform Stake.com on Monday, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) confirmed in a statement Wednesday.

Fast facts

• The stolen crypto assets were moved from Stake.com’s Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain (BSC), and Polygon networks to 33 different addresses, according to the FBI.
• The FBI said hackers from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) have stolen over US$200 million of digital currencies this year, including funds siphoned off Alphapo and CoinsPaid crypto platforms earlier this year.
• U.S. authorities had said that funds stolen by DPRK-backed cyber actors are used to support North Korea’s weapons programs.
• Lazarus Group previously used the now-sanctioned Tornado Cash to move illicit funds. But after the sanctions, Lazarus utilized chain-hopping to launder some of the funds stolen from Ronin, according to Chainalysis.
• Meanwhile, the U.S., Japan and South Korea on Aug. 18 agreed to establish a trilateral working group to tackle North Korean cyberattacks as early as next month, according to South Korea’s KBS News.

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Danny Park

Danny is a journalist at Forkast.News. Originally from South Korea, Danny has produced content for media companies in Korea, Hong Kong and China. He holds a Bachelor of Journalism and Business Marketing from the University of Hong Kong.

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Eve Yeo

Eve is an experienced business reporter and commodities news editor. She has previously worked at print and media outlets such as Singapore Press Holdings, Shanghai Metals Market, S&P Global Platts and Argus Media.

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