According to U.S. Treasury officials and Office of Foreign Assets Control, the Ronin bridge hack could have been linked to North Korean hacker group called Lazarus Group. Federal law enforcement officials have tied the flagged ethereum address connected with the Ronin bridge exploit to the group of hackers and added the crypto address to OFAC’s Specially Designated Nationals And Blocked Persons list (SDN).
Ronin Bridge Exploiter’s Address Added to OFAC’s SDN List
The U.S. government released an OFAC-SDN update on April 14 that included the ETH address used in the Ronin bridge exploit. Bitcoin.com News published a report on the Ronin-bridge attack on March 29, following which the protocol for the blockchain game Axie Infinity had lost $620 millions in crypto assets. Ronin bridge attacks have been among the biggest decentralized financial (defi), exploits to date.
According to the U.S. Treasury and OFAC, the ethereum address, which is already flagged on blockchain explorers under the name “Ronin bridge exploiters,” belongs to the North Korean hacker syndicate called Lazarus Group. The ethereum wallet holds 144,837.79 ether worth roughly $438.6 million using today’s ether exchange rates. The newly updated SDN list explains that Lazarus Group has various names including the “Guardians of Peace,” “Hidden Cobra,” “Red Dot,” “Temp.Hermit,” and the “New Romantic Cyber Army Team.”
US Government prohibits transactions with any SDN-listed crypto addresses
OFAC had previously warned of Lazarus Group. The US authorities believed that the hackers are involved in ransomware and major hacks. There have also been many research studies that investigate the North Korean hacking group’s alleged activities. The U.S. Treasury’s and OFAC’s update on Thursday notes that the hacker syndicate is reportedly located in the Potonggang District, Pyongyang, North Korea. U.S. citizens and financial institutions are not permitted to transact with an OFAC-stipulated ethereum account.
According to a report published by the United Nations (UN) in March 2019, North Korea and the country’s supreme leader Kim Jong-un allegedly stockpiled at least $670 million worth of cryptocurrencies. A U.S. Army investigative report published on July 24, 2020 claimed that North Korea is home to approximately 6,000 hackers, which includes the Lazarus Group.
Do you agree with the U.S. government’s assertion that Ronin bridge hacker, is linked to the notorious Lazarus Group Please comment below to let us know your thoughts on this topic.
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