Poloniex Hack May Be Related To Lazarus Group

Key Points:

• Cryptocurrency exchange Poloniex faces a major security breach, with losses surpassing $100 million.
• Security experts link the Poloniex hack to the North Korean Lazarus Group, known for previous attacks.

Cryptocurrency exchange Poloniex, founded by Justin Sun, is grappling with a significant security breach that has resulted in reported losses exceeding $100 million. Security experts from X-explore are actively investigating the incident and suspect the involvement of the North Korean hacker group Lazarus, drawing parallels to a previous attack on Stake.com.

Poloniex Hack Believed to Be Related to Lazarus Group

The modus operandi in both instances of incidents reveals striking similarities. The attackers employed various addresses, each designated for handling a specific type of token. Utilizing an intermediate address, they facilitated the exchange of ERC20 and TRC20 tokens on decentralized platforms, subsequently transferring the acquired ETH and TRX to a new address.

On November 10, a notable amount of crypto assets, initially estimated at $60 million, were observed leaving Poloniex’s account labeled Poloniex 4 on Etherscan. Further analysis uncovered that the actual losses from the Poloniex hack exceeded $100 million. Security firms PeckShield and Cyvers promptly reported the breach, suggesting the unauthorized access may have occurred around 10:55 UTC.

Justin Sun Takes Swift Action with Rewards and Ultimatum

Responding to the suspicious outflows, Poloniex took swift action by disabling the affected wallet for maintenance, albeit without issuing an official statement on the Poloniex hack incident. Founder Justin Sun publicly acknowledged the breach and announced a reward for white-hat hackers aiding in fund recovery. He also cautioned that if the funds aren’t reclaimed within 7 days, law enforcement agencies will be brought into the Poloniex hack investigation.

Multiple wallets across different blockchains were targeted in the Poloniex hack, notably an Ethereum wallet now labeled “Poloniex hacker,” which transferred $114 million across 357 transactions. Concurrently, a Tron blockchain wallet disbursed $42 million to various addresses.

Poloniex’s customer service, facilitated through X, communicated the wallet’s maintenance status to users and committed to informing the community once it is back online.

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