North Korean hackers stole more than US$100 million (about RM462 million) worth of digital currency in a recent theft affecting users of the Atomic Wallet service, cryptocurrency analytics firm Elliptic said on Tuesday.
In a blog post, Elliptic said that more than 5,500 digital wallets were attacked by hackers, who the firm said were part of the North Korean cybercrime gang often called Lazarus.
North Korea's mission to the United Nations in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment, though Pyongyang has denied digital theft in the past. Atomic Wallet did not immediately return messages seeking comment.
The company, which claims to be based in Estonia, previously said it had "received reports of compromised wallets" and has hired another cryptocurrency analytics firm, Chainalysis, to investigate the incident and track down the stolen funds. Chainalysis declined to comment.
Lazarus has been blamed for a series of brazen thefts targeting cryptocurrency users and organizations. Elliptic said the targeting of Atomic Wallet users was the largest since hackers allegedly stole around $100 million worth of digital currencies from a tool developed by US cryptocurrency firm Harmony last year.
Earlier this year, the United Nations reported that North Korea had stolen more cryptocurrency assets in 2022 than in any other year. International monitors have said the stolen money was injected into North Korea's sanctioned nuclear and missile programs.
The FBI did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the latest robbery. Estonian police officers did not immediately respond to an email sent after hours.
