North Korean Cyberattack Plunders Atomic Wallet, Resulting in $100M Loss

North Korean hackers hit Atomic Wallet with a cyberattack, causing a staggering loss of $100 million. Cyber threats originating from North Korea are getting more sophisticated, underscoring the need for robust security measures. Investigations are underway to determine what happened and fortify defenses to prevent future attacks.

Thousands of Crypto Wallets Affected in Atomic Wallet’s Recent Breach

Approximately 5,500 cryptocurrency wallets have been affected, according to Elliptic, a company that analyzes blockchain transactions. This shows the scale of the attack and how many people were affected.

Due to a serious exploit, Atomic Wallet users have suffered significant losses. Since Atomic Wallet operates on the principle that users are responsible for protecting their assets, this breach has caused alarm in the crypto community. Cryptocurrencies need strong security measures, as the incident shows.

Elliptic reports that Atomic Wallet lost over $100 million in a recent attack. This demonstrates the severity of the breach, which affected around 5,500 crypto wallets. Such attacks serve as a stark reminder of the scale and impact of cryptocurrencies.

Frustration Mounts as Atomic Wallet Users Seek Answers Amid Lack of Updates

Atomic Wallet left users in the dark about the reason for their losses. As a result, users are getting increasingly worried and looking for answers from the company. The company’s last Twitter update was on June 7, leaving users with little communication.

Twitter users are frustrated at the way Atomic Wallet is handling the issue. User Ezra Carlson shared on Twitter with Atomic Wallet,

Why won’t AM give me a straight answer about why they didn’t warn me, knowing full well that they were being hacked, that it was not safe to use AM last week before I made a transfer to my wallet that was then hacked.

Another user, “Real Deal Crypto,” criticized Atomic Wallet’s lack of updates, saying, “Your last update was five days ago – SERIOUSLY?!?!”

On June 3, Atomic Wallet acknowledged that a small percentage of users were affected. The substantial losses indicate a much bigger breach than initially thought.

Elliptic, a blockchain analysis company, has linked the recent heist to the Lazarus Group. Different thefts by this group have stolen billions of dollars in cryptocurrency. For the first time since the $100 million Horizon Bridge heist in June 2022, Elliptic has publicly attributed a major crypto heist to Lazarus Group.

After the heist, Elliptic said it worked with international investigators and exchanges and mobilized resources to regain the assets. So far, the firm’s attempts have frozen over $1 million worth of stolen money. According to a blockchain analysis company:

In response to the freezing of these funds, the thief has begun to change their behavior. In particular, they have turned to the Russia-based Garantex exchange to launder the stolen assets.

A string of notable breaches has hit the cryptocurrency space lately. An exploit of Jimbo’s protocol cost $7.5 million. Furthermore, a malicious proposal took over Tornado Cash’s governance in May. Chainalysis says hackers stole $3.8 billion in 2022, with a lot of it due to North Korea-linked attacks and exploits targeting decentralized finance protocols.