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Lazarus group orchestrated nearly 17% of all crypto hacks throughout 2023, mainly targeting centralized platforms like exchanges. 
Five successful crypto heists masterminded by Lazarus, a North Korean-funded hacker organization, reportedly resulted in over $300 million stolen from digital asset service providers within 12 months.&nbsp; 
The state-sponsored criminal actors <a href="https://fortune.com/crypto/2023/12/14/north-korea-lazarus-crypto-hack-immunefi-2023-cybercrime/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">enacted</a> a change in strategy, switching from defi targets to centralized platforms, according to Immunifi, a leading blockchain bounty company. 
As of September 2023, the group had siphoned at least $270 million in 102 days, with services like Atomic Wallet suffering heavy losses. The $115 million ferried from Atomic Wallet remains the single-largest incident <a href="https://crypto.news/stolen-crypto-from-atomic-wallet-traced-to-north-korean-linked-mixer/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">attributed</a> to Lazarus during the year.&nbsp; 
Lazarus is also believed to have launched attacks on <a href="https://crypto.news/coinex-to-resume-crypto-services-after-70m-lazarus-hack/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CoinEx</a>, crypto casino <a href="https://crypto.news/stake-co-founder-eddie-craven-shares-details-on-41m-heist/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Stake</a>, and digital payment processor CoinsPaid.&nbsp; 
 You might also like: <a href="https://crypto.news/lazarus-group-hackers-from-country-with-no-internet-threaten-defi/"> Lazarus Group: hackers from country with no internet threaten defi </a> 
Multiple blockchain security firms and even the FBI <a href="https://crypto.news/fbi-lazarus-group-hacked-and-stole-41m-from-crypto-casino-stake/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">concurred</a> that Lazarus was responsible for several of these hacks.&nbsp; On-chain data showed connections between wallets used to steal funds from protocols and addresses to channel this illicit wealth to crypto mixers like <a href="https://crypto.news/kyberswap-hacker-moves-338k-into-tornado-cash/">Tornado Cash</a> and Sinbad.&nbsp; 
The U.S. Treasury Office previously sanctioned Tornado Cash, <a href="https://crypto.news/sinbad-crypto-mixer-sanctioned-by-u-s-treasury/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Sinbad</a>, and Blender.io due to Lazarus allegedly leveraging these crypto-mixing services for money laundry. 
The massive losses incurred by cryptocurrency protocols at the hands of Lazarus and other bad actors underpins a larger security threat evident in the nascent digital asset industry.&nbsp; 
Sipan Vardanyan, co-founder and CEO at Hexens, a cybersecurity firm, said companies must allocate more resources toward combating attack surfaces. The cybersecurity veteran added that continuous security monitoring (CSM) systems and value-based bug bounty programs could be key tools against hackers. 
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"> 
 Traditionally, a significant portion of the security budgets of companies operating in web3 has been spent on smart contract audits, with CSM tools taking a bit of a back seat. This will need to change if the security landscape in web3 is to become robust enough to incentivize the widespread adoption of this truly revolutionary technology. <cite>Sipan Vardanyan, co-founder and CEO, Hexens</cite>
</blockquote> 
 Read more: <a href="https://crypto.news/north-korean-lazarus-group-is-targeting-crypto-companies-with-apt-attacks/"> North Korean Lazarus Group is targeting crypto companies with APT attacks </a>

North Korea’s Lazarus behind $300m in 2023 crypto losses

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