North Korea’s Lazarus Group Suspected Behind $625 Million Axie Infinity Hack

Summary

The biggest defi hack ever in the world took place on March 23, 2022. Hackers hacked into Axie Infinity’s bridge which lets users withdraw money from their game. The quantum of the hack was calculated to exceed $600 Million. Attackers gained control over 5 out of 9 nodes.

Now in a surprise turn of events, US Authorities traced the hack to North Korea. The hack was allegedly perpetrated by The Lazarus Group.

What US Authorities Say

The US Department of Treasury and its Office of Foreign Assets Control(OFAC) traced the activities of the Lazarus Group of North Korea behind the attack.

Further, OFAC sanctioned an Ethereum-based wallet that belongs to the group. The sanctions forbid any US-based company or individual to do any kind of transaction with the account.

The Lazarus Group

The Lazarus Group is a North Korean entity consisting of several hackers and is run by the North Korean government. It is also known by its other names such as Whois Team and Guardians of Peace.

The group, on March 23, 2022, hacked the Ronin Bridge of Axie Infinity which led to a loss of more than $600 Million. Hackers gained control over 5 out of 9 validator nodes.

The group was also involved in the 2014 Sony pictures hack and the infamous 2017 Wannacry hacks.

Refund and Further Security

To amend this hack, Sky Mavis(owner of Axie Infinity and Ronin Bridge), raised a series of funds to compensate the victims of the hack. This fundraising was led by Changepeng Zhao(CEO, Binance) among many others. Further, Sky Mavis also released funds from its own account. Another amendment that took place was the increase in the number of validator nodes from 9 to 21.