North Korean hackers Lazarus and Andariel stole 342,000 ETH in a 2019 Upbit hack, South Korean authorities confirm.
Authorities in South Korea have revealed that North Korean hackers were responsible for the November 2019 cryptocurrency hack, which involved Upbit cryptocurrency worth $50 million.
North Korean hacker groups Lazarus and Andariel carried out the attack, which resulted in the theft of 342,000 Ether, according to reports from the National Office of Investigation in South Korea on November 21.
On November 27, 2019, Upbit, a cryptocurrency exchange based in South Korea, disclosed the theft of 342,000 ETH from its hot wallet. Each ETH token had a value of approximately $147 at the time of the robbery, resulting in a total theft of approximately $50 million.
Given the recent rise in Ethereum’s and Bitcoin’s values, today’s theft would exceed one billion dollars. Yonhap News of South Korea reported that this is the first time a South Korean investigation agency has formally confirmed North Korean involvement in a bitcoin hack.
Through the monitoring of cryptographic flows and IP addresses, the CIA was able to establish that North Korea was involved. In addition to this, they examined the utilization of the North Korean language as well as information obtained from the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the United States.
Despite the fact that the police have confirmed that North Korea was involved, they have suppressed information regarding the hacking procedures in order to prevent any potential instances of copycat attacks.
Since the breach, it is believed that the thieves have sold about 57% of the stolen ETH on exchanges allegedly run by North Koreans. 51 different international exchanges handled the disbursement and cleaning of the remaining funds. Arecent investigation into the cryptocurrency exchange revealed North Korea’s involvement in the 2019 breach.
The Financial Intelligence Unit of the Financial Services Commission discovered on November 14 that the cryptocurrency exchange may have committed between 500,000 and 600,000 potential violations of the Know Your Customer policy. During their evaluation of Upbit’s business license renewal, the Federal Investigation Unit discovered alleged breaches.
According to the allegations, the exchange accepted identification cards that were blurry, which made it difficult for authorities to accurately identify the users. In addition to the potential for fines of up to $71,500 per instance, the offenses may also cause difficulty in the process of renewing the exchange’s business license.