Important Points:
- This $4 million exploit is linked to the North Korea-backed Lazarus Group through the Bitcoin DeFi platform Alex Lab.
- To recover the stolen assets, Alex Lab is collaborating with professionals in cybersecurity and international law enforcement.
Bitcoin DeFi program Alex Lab uncovered final month that it had endured a $4 million hacking. According to the platform, the Lazarus Group is responsible for the cyberattack. The famous hacker organization Lazarus Group is believed to be supported by the North Korean government.
Law enforcement and Alex Lab are working together on a $4.3 million hack investigation
The intrusion that cost Alex Lab $4.3 million in May is thought to have been caused by the Lazarus Group, a hacker group associated with North Korea. The evidence includes two addresses, one for the initial exploit connection and another for the Lazarus Group, which were critical in monitoring the transit of stolen assets. The decentralized finance (DeFi) layer of the Bitcoin network, Alex Lab, acknowledged in a statement released on June 25 that it is actively working with cybersecurity professionals and international law enforcement to manage the fallout from this attack.
Following the incident, Alex Lab issued updates, including one on June 20, that revealed that hackers had broadcast over 12,000 addresses used to transfer cash. The post stated that the hackers had successfully offed-ramped about 243,000 tokens.
To deal with the consequences of this attack and retrieve the stolen assets, Alex Lab is currently collaborating with international law enforcement agencies and cybersecurity experts.
Exploit information
Alex Labs announced the exploit on May 16, stating that it was done by compromising private keys got through a phishing attempt. The attacker could extract some assets from the Alex protocol, resulting in losses of approximately $4.3 million.
Since the exploit, the platform has made it easier for Singaporean authorities to contact relevant cryptocurrency exchanges and guarantee the safety of the stolen funds while the investigation continues.
Alex Lab also reported that most of the stolen STX tracked on CEXs are currently blocked by the respective exchanges, who have stated that they will continue to freeze the stolen assets pending police investigations. The platform will issue a notification as soon as affected individuals can get their frozen cash back.
