The FBI says hackers linked to North Korea are behind a $100 million crypto theft

The FBI said North Korea-linked actors were behind the theft of $100 million through hacking an encryption product last year.

The FBI said it was “able to confirm” that the Lazarus Group and APT38, two hacking groups linked to Pyongyang, were responsible for the attack. Attack on the so-called Horizon Bridge in 2022.

Traders use a bridge to exchange cryptocurrencies between different blockchain networks.

The FBI also said that North Korean cyber actors this month used the Railgun system to launder over $60 million in ether token stolen during the June 2022 heist. Railgun is a system designed to help keep the anonymity of people transferring cryptocurrency.

The FBI said that a portion of the stolen ether was sent to various virtual asset service providers and converted into bitcoin.

At the time of the hack, blockchain analytics firm Elliptic said there were “strong indications” that Lazarus was behind the attack. Almost immediately, the hackers were trying to move the money through means to hide their identity.

The FBI said it continues to “identify and disrupt North Korea’s theft and laundering of virtual currency used to support North Korea’s ballistic missile and weapons of mass destruction programs.”

North Korea-linked attackers have been pinned in other cryptocurrency hacks.

Last year, the US Treasury Department blamed Lazarus for a The $600 Million Heist on the Ronin Networkthe so-called “side chain” of the popular crypto game Axie Infinity.

– CNBC’s Ryan Brown contributed to this report