The U.S. government has taken action against cybercrime by filing two asset forfeiture orders to recover around $2.67 million stolen by the Lazarus Group, a North Korean state-backed hacking collective. The seized assets are related to two major hacks: $1.7 million in USDT from the Deribit options exchange and $971,000 worth of Bitcoin from the online betting platform Stake.com.
The first hack occurred in November 2022 when Lazarus breached Deribit’s hot wallet and stole $28 million. The stolen assets were then laundered through Ethereum, USDC, and Tornado Cash before being converted into USDT on the TRON network. Authorities were able to track and freeze $1.7 million of these assets.
The second case involves a $41 million hack of Stake.com, where Lazarus used Bitcoin mixing services to conceal the stolen assets. Authorities managed to recover 15.5 Bitcoin, equivalent to around $971,000, but most of the stolen funds were transferred to the blockchain.
The Lazarus Group has become a significant threat in the cryptocurrency space, with their attacks being linked to the financing of North Korea’s weapons programs. Over the past three years, the group has stolen more than $3 billion from various platforms, making it one of the most dangerous players in global cybercrime.
Despite ongoing efforts by law enforcement and cryptocurrency platforms to track and seize assets, the Lazarus Group continues to evolve its methods, posing a serious challenge to authorities worldwide.
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