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North Korean Lazarus Group Behind Over $55M CoinEx Hack

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SCORECHAIN

Fecha: September 14th 2023

Publicado por: Investigation

Tags

Crypto AML, Crypto Hack, Cryptocurrency, Hack, Risk assessment, Virtual asset,

North Korean Lazarus Group Behind Over $55M CoinEx Hack

On Tuesday 12 September 2023, a significant security breach shook the cryptocurrency exchange, CoinEx, resulting in the theft of $55M. CoinEx revealed the detection of anomalous withdrawals from several wallets designated to secure the platform’s assets. Our specialized investigative team was promptly deployed to probe the incident, uncovering a series of unauthorized transactions involving blockchains such as ETH, TRON, and Polygon. While the full extent of the losses is yet to be ascertained, data gleaned from blockchain analysis indicates that over $55 million worth of digital coins were drained from the exchange.

Urgent Notice: Security Incident on CoinEx – Immediate Actions Underway

On September 12, 2023, our Risk Control System detected anomalous withdrawals from several hot wallet addresses used to store CoinEx's exchange assets. Promptly recognizing the gravity of the situation, we…

— CoinEx Global (@coinexcom) September 12, 2023

In response to the breach, CoinEx promptly suspended its deposit and withdrawal services, while also pledging complete compensation to users who incurred losses due to the hacking incident.

Subsequently, CoinEx issued a follow-up statement, in which they pinpointed and isolated the wallet addresses associated with the attack.

#CoinExResponseUpdate – We have identified and isolated the suspicious wallet addresses linked to the hack:$ETH:
 *0xce013682eddefaca8c94fe56a43a04212ebe4673
 *0x8bf8cd7F001D0584F98F53a3d82eD0bA498cC3dE
 *0xCC1AE485b617c59a7c577C02cd07078a2bcCE454…

— CoinEx Global (@coinexcom) September 12, 2023

As of now, the exchange is in the process of evaluating the complete scope of cryptocurrency assets lost during the security breach. In an update provided the day after, they revealed the discovery of a second group of suspicious wallet addresses connected to the breach. These wallets were found to have illicitly transferred tokens including Ether, XRP, Solana, Kadena, and Dagger.

One of the wallet addresses that raised suspicion due to its connection to the hack was flagged by Scorechain.
Scorechain’s risk assessment of the source and destination of the funds.

The investigation further shows that the cyberattack on the cryptocurrency exchange, CoinEx, has been attributed to the North Korean hacker group Lazarus. The hacker group was positively identified when it unintentionally disclosed an address that matched the one employed in previous hacks, including the Stake and Optimism incidents.

It appears North Korea is also responsible for the $54M @coinexcom hack from yesterday after they accidentally connected their address to the $41M Stake hack on OP & Polygon.

0x75497999432b8701330fb68058bd21918c02ac59 pic.twitter.com/9qZPdc3yhT

— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) September 13, 2023

The Scorechain team will keep on monitoring the funds. More updates to come.

As cybercrime and the use of crypto in illicit activities continue to rise, blockchain analytics tools are essential for law enforcement agencies to combat these threats and for companies to avoid these activities in compliance with regulations. 

Would you like to see how Scorechain’s blockchain analytics tools can help you avoid exposure to hacked funds and related money laundering risks? Request a free demo now.

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About Scorechain 

Scorechain provides a blockchain analytics and transaction monitoring platform for crypto assets. As a leader in crypto compliance, the Luxembourgish company has helped over 200 customers in 45 countries since 2015, ranging from cryptocurrency businesses to financial institutions with crypto trading, custody branch, digital assets, customers onboarding, audit and law firms, and some LEAs.

Scorechain’s platform provides identifying data and risk assessment for 30+ blockchains. The platform connects to different sources and block lists to provide risk scoring on crypto assets, transactions, addresses, and entities. The risk assessment methodology applied by Scorechain has been verified and is fully customizable to fit all jurisdictions. Customers can monitor infinite possibilities of risk scenarios with a wide range of parameters provided so businesses under the scope of the crypto regulation can report suspicious activity to authorities with enhanced due diligence.

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