Security News > 2023 > June > Lazarus hackers linked to the $35 million Atomic Wallet heist
The notorious North Korean hacking group known as Lazarus has been linked to the recent Atomic Wallet hack, resulting in the theft of over $35 million in crypto.
The attack on Atomic Wallet occurred last weekend when numerous users reported that their wallets were compromised and their funds had been stolen.
Last year, the FBI attributed to Lazarus the Harmony Horizon Bridge hack in June 2022, which resulted in the theft of $100 million, and also the March 2022 hack of Axie Infinity, from which the North Koreans siphoned $620 million in crypto.
The latest attack on Atomic Wallet shows that the threat actors remain laser-focused on monetary goals, which experts have said are directly used to fund North Korea's weapons development program.
The third and most significant proof of Lazarus' involvement in the Atomic Wallet hack is that substantial portions of the stolen cryptocurrency ended up in wallets that hold the proceeds of previous Lazarus hacks and are assumed to belong to group members.
As victims notify exchanges of wallet addresses containing stolen funds, preventing them from being exchanged for other crypto or fiat, it causes the hackers to turn to less scrupulous exchanges that take a hefty commission to launder the money.