The exploit of DeFi protocols was rampant in 2022, with cross-chain bridge hacks causing the most damage. Cross-chain bridge hacks accounted for 50% of DeFi hacks last year. Ronin Bridge, Poly Network, and Binance Bridge were prominent targets from which hackers exploited more than $500 million each.
Cross-chain bridges facilitate transactions between different blockchains without needing a centralized authority.
Source: CrossChainBridge
In June 2022, hackers exploited $100 million from the Harmony Horizon Bridge, the gateway between Harmony and other blockchains. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) confirmed on Monday through a press release that North Korea’s Lazarus Group and APT38 were behind the hack.
State-Sponsored Lazarus Group Stole $100M From Horizon Bridge
The FBI’s investigations, in collaboration with the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team, and other agencies, confirmed that Lazarus Group and APT38 were responsible for the $100 million hack. Lazarus Group and APT38 are cybercrime groups associated with the government of North Korea.
The hackers used the privacy protocol Railgun to sneak out over $60 million worth of Ethereum on Jan.13. The on-chain sleuth, ZachXBT, caught this activity and reported it on Jan. 16. The North Korean exploiters deposited the funds on three different exchanges, using 350+ addresses.
However, Binance and Huobi collaborated to stop the movement of the stolen funds and recovered over 124 BTC.
We're proud to announce that thanks to our dedicated team and collaboration with @binance , we were able to detect and prevent a Harmony One hacker from attempting to launder funds through @HuobiGlobal . — H.E. Justin Sun
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