SECURITY

Poloniex hack possibly linked to North Korean group Lazarus? Justin Sun: Losses are within controllable range

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Poloniex hack possibly linked to North Korean group Lazarus? Justin Sun: Losses are within controllable range

On the evening of 11/10, it was reported that the Poloniex exchange, owned by Tron founder Justin Sun, was hacked for over $100 million. Some analysts believe that the hacking pattern of Poloniex is similar to that of the North Korean organization Lazarus, indicating a possible involvement of North Korean hackers.

Some opinions suggest that this attack on Poloniex may have originated from a leaked private key. Based on the transactions that moved the funds, it is observed that the hacker's transactions are of the old type, unlike the normal EIP-1559 type transactions with base fees and priority fees. Additionally, different types of tokens are stored in separate addresses, indicating that each address handles only one type of token. The hacker also utilized intermediary addresses to exchange ERC-20 and TRC-20 tokens on decentralized exchanges before converting them into ETH and TRX to transfer to new addresses.

Similarly, the North Korean organization Lazarus operates with a similar pattern and had successfully attacked Stake.com in September this year, profiting over $40 million.

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North Korean hacker group Lazarus Group's big harvest! Wallet exposed to hold over 40 million bitcoins

Justin Sun: Losses are within control

Following the incident, Justin Sun stated that the Poloniex team has successfully identified and frozen some assets related to the hacker's address. Currently, the losses are within a manageable range, and Poloniex's operating income can offset these losses. The Poloniex team has restored the Poloniex system, preserved relevant evidence, and will strive to gradually restore Poloniex's deposit and withdrawal operations in the next few days to ensure 100% security.

In September of this year, HTX, a Huobi exchange that Justin Sun invested in, was also hacked for 5,000 ETH, which was later voluntarily returned by the hacker.

HTX Huobi Hacked for 5,000 ETH, Justin Sun: Nearly 8 Million Euros "Minor Loss" Fully Compensated, CZ Laughs: Change the wrong name

Did the hacker destroy the money?

Some of the funds from the Poloniex hacker's activities are puzzling. They took 18 ETH from the Tornado Cash mixing protocol, stole 1,577 ETH, then sent 1,570 ETH to a burn address, leaving 7 ETH. After paying network fees, they even ended up losing 4 ETH, leaving people puzzled.