North Korean Hackers Blamed For $625M Axie Infinity Crypto Heist

The investigation regarding Axie Infinity's Ronin breach had a breakthrough as the crypto heist was traced back to a cybercrime group located in North Korea. According to a report from Sky Mavis, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) attributed the Lazarus Group as the culprits of the breach. The cybercrime group has been active since 2009 and has targeted several big companies and banks such as the Bangladesh Bank and Sony Pictures, according to a report from Reuters. Sky Mavis is currently making improvements to its security protocols to add a much more secure Ronin Bridge before the network gets deployed once again.

Ronin Network breach investigation led to Korean cybercrime group

Back on 23rd March, Axie Infinity’s Ronin Network was breached where hackers stole around $600 million USD worth of cryptocurrency. This led Sky Mavis, the developers behind the popular Non-Fungible Token (NFT) title to halt activities on the Ronin network. The Ronin network allows asset conversions in Axie Infinity as well as currency conversion between Etherium and Ronin blockchains.

While the Ronin Network’s security protocols are being improved, the FBI was in charge of investigating the crypto heist and it has now revealed the cybercrime group behind the breach.

According to a report from CoinDesk, the United States (US) Treasury Department, which is also helping the FBI with the case stated that “There may be mandatory secondary sanctions requirements on persons who knowingly, directly or indirectly, engage in money laundering, the counterfeiting of goods or currency, bulk cash smuggling, or narcotics trafficking that supports the Government of North Korea or any senior official or person acting for or on behalf of that Government.”

In a blog post, Sky Mavis wrote, “Security remains our top priority, and we look forward to sharing our learnings with our community and the broader ecosystem. We thank you for your patience,”

Sky Mavis stated that it shall post more details regarding the security measures that will be implemented for the Ronin Network as well as its plans moving forward by the end of April.