The Federal Bureau of Investigation has recently sounded the alarm after Stake.com, a leading crypto casino platform, was robbed of a whopping $41 million. The familiar face behind this cyber theft is none other than North Korea’s Lazarus Group, also recognized as APT38.
Lazarus Group’s Escalating Attacks in 2023
This year has been marked by a series of bold heists by the Lazarus Group. The scale of their attacks reached an alarming peak with the theft of over $200 million across various crypto platforms. Alphapo and CoinsPaid suffered a combined loss of $60 million in July. Soon after, in June, Atomic Wallet was stripped of around $100 million. The theft at Stake.com is just the latest in this chain of events.
How the Heist Unfolded
The FBI’s meticulous investigation traced the movement of the stolen virtual funds. These were notably seen across Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain (BSC), and Polygon networks, swiftly changing hands to different addresses.
Interestingly, the U.S. had already put the Lazarus Group on notice. The U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) slapped sanctions on them as early as 2019. Furthermore, the FBI had previously flagged TraderTraitor, advising the public to tread carefully in the digital world.
This latest theft underscores the pressing need for strengthening cybersecurity and fostering global collaboration. With cybercriminals becoming more audacious, the importance of combined efforts can’t be stressed enough.
