Cryptocurrency thefts have been happening all over the world lately. But according to recent reports, this time the whole world witnessed the biggest hacking incident in the crypto world. Cryptocurrency tracking site Etherscan reports that last month, North Korean hackers stole $600 million (about Rs. 4,500 crore) from the blockchain-based video game ‘Axie Infinity’! Gamers used to earn crypto currency by playing games on this platform as well as exchanging their avatars. But that crypto has been hijacked by hackers.
The surprises do not end here, a report of The Washington Post (The Washington Post) has revealed some more sensational information. It is said that the hackers not only stole but are still able to use the stolen cryptocurrency. The Treasury Department tried to confiscate all the money the hackers gained in this crypto attack, but it was ultimately unsuccessful. It is known that the hackers have already traded 4.5 million dollars worth of Ethereum. And the group that has done this shocking incident has been identified as Lazarus Group by the Treasury Department.
Note that earlier this North Korean group came into discussion for the first time by hacking Sony Pictures in 2014. According to blockchain analytics firm Elliptic, this group of cybercriminals has so far laundered $100 million in stolen cryptocurrency. But the good news is that even though the hacking group has not been fully traced, several key pieces of information related to the ring have already come into the hands of the Treasury Department, which has enabled them to freeze $5.8 million in cryptocurrency transferred by the hackers. This information was revealed in a report by the international crypto exchange Binance. Needless to say, the United States officials are continuing to work hard to catch the hacking group.
There is no need to say anything new about the increasing number of hacking incidents all over the world as the days go by. But there’s no denying that this recent incident is the best example of all the fancy and clever activities of hackers! More importantly, the North Korean hackers have clearly demonstrated how to fully understand the vulnerability of the crypto-economy and how to cleverly exploit it. They have masterfully exploited all the loopholes available in the crypto platforms, and thus managed to grab this huge amount of money without anyone knowing it. As a result, hackers deserve a big round of applause for making such an impossible thing possible, but for a long time to come, technologists and researchers can only hope to come up with more sophisticated technologies to prevent such incidents from happening. In that case, the answer to when we will see a hacking-free world after all the troubles are overcome, may be only time.