DMM Bitcoin $308M Bitcoin heist linked to North Korea

Japanese and U.S. authorities attributed the theft of $308 million cryptocurrency from DMM Bitcoin to North Korean cyber actors.

Japanese and U.S. authorities linked the $308 million cyber heist targeting cryptocurrency company DMM Bitcoin to North Korea-linked threat actors.

On June 1st, the Japanese cryptocurrency exchange DMM Bitcoin announced that crooks stole 4,502.9 Bitcoin (BTC), approximately $304 million (48.2 billion yen), from its wallets.

The company assured customers their Bitcoin (BTC) deposits would be fully guaranteed.

In response to the heist, DMM Bitcoin limited the following services:

・ Screening of new account openings
・ Processing of cryptocurrency withdrawals
・ Suspension of buying orders for spot trading (only selling orders accepted)
・ Suspension of new open positions for leveraged trading (only settlement orders accepted)

The FBI, DoD Cyber Crime Center, and Japan’s NPA now reported a $308M cryptocurrency theft from DMM in May 2024 by North Korean actors tied to TraderTraitor (also known as Lazarus Group and APT38).

“The Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of Defense Cyber Crime Center, and National Police Agency of Japan are alerting the public to the theft of cryptocurrency worth $308 million U.S. dollars from the Japan-based cryptocurrency company DMM by North Korean cyber actors in May 2024.” reads the press release published by FBI.

“The theft is affiliated with TraderTraitor threat activity, which is also tracked as Jade Sleet, UNC4899, and Slow Pisces. TraderTraitor activity is often characterized by targeted social engineering directed at multiple employees of the same company simultaneously.”

The agencies discovered that in March 2024, a North Korea-linked threat actor posed as a LinkedIn recruiter and targeted an employee of the Japan-based enterprise cryptocurrency wallet software company Ginco, then compromised them via a malicious Python script shared masqueraded as a “pre-employment test.”

In May 2024, TraderTraitor actors used stolen session cookies to infiltrate Ginco’s system, enabling the manipulation of a DMM transaction that resulted in the theft of 4,502.9 BTC ($308M).

Then the attackers transferred the stolen funds to wallets they controlled.  

In August 2023, the FBI shared details about the activity of six cryptocurrency wallets operated by North Korea-linked TraderTraitor-affiliated actors.

The wallets hold roughly 1,580 Bitcoin (roughly $41 million at the current rate) that the feds believe are linked to the recent theft of hundreds of millions of dollars in cryptocurrency.

The FBI believes that the North Korea-linked hackers may attempt to cash out the stolen funds.

“The FBI is warning cryptocurrency companies of recent blockchain activity connected to the theft of hundreds of millions of dollars in cryptocurrency. Over the last 24 hours, the FBI tracked cryptocurrency stolen by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) TraderTraitor-affiliated actors (also known as Lazarus Group and APT38).” reads the FBI’s alert. “The FBI believes the DPRK may attempt to cash out the bitcoin worth more than $40 million dollars.”

The investigation conducted by the FBI revealed that the TraderTraitor-affiliated actors moved approximately 1,580 bitcoin from several cryptocurrency heists to the following wallets:

• 3LU8wRu4ZnXP4UM8Yo6kkTiGHM9BubgyiG
• 39idqitN9tYNmq3wYanwg3MitFB5TZCjWu
• 3AAUBbKJorvNhEUFhKnep9YTwmZECxE4Nk
• 3PjNaSeP8GzLjGeu51JR19Q2Lu8W2Te9oc
• 3NbdrezMzAVVfXv5MTQJn4hWqKhYCTCJoB
• 34VXKa5upLWVYMXmgid6bFM4BaQXHxSUoL

TraderTraitor-affiliated hackers stole $100 million from Atomic Wallet in June, $60 million from Alphapo, and $37 million from CoinsPaid in July.

North Korea-linked APT groups have focused their previous operations on the theft of crypto assets. Researchers attributed the hack of Harmony’s Horizon bridge and Sky Mavis’ Ronin Bridge to North Korea-linked threat actors.

“Private sector entities should examine the blockchain data associated with these addresses and be vigilant in guarding against transactions directly with, or derived from, the addresses. The FBI will continue to expose and combat the DPRK’s use of illicit activities—including cybercrime and virtual currency theft—to generate revenue for the regime.” FBI concludes.

In 2018, the Lazarus APT group targeted several cryptocurrency exchanges, including the campaign tracked as Operation AppleJeus discovered in August 2018. At the time, North Korea-linked Lazarus APT group leveraged for the first time on a MacOS variant of the Fallchill malware.

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Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, DMM Bitcoin)