North Korean-affiliated hacking collective the Lazarus Group has been moving crypto assets using mixers following a string of high-profile hacks. 

On March 13, blockchain security firm CertiK alerted its X followers that it had detected a deposit of 400 ETH (ETH) worth around $750,000 to the Tornado Cash mixing service. 

“The fund traces to the Lazarus group’s activity on the Bitcoin network,” it noted. 

The North Korean hacking group was responsible for the massive Bybit exchange hack that resulted in the theft of $1.4 billion worth of crypto assets on Feb. 21. 

It has also been linked to the $29 million Phemex exchange hack in January and has been laundering assets ever since. 

Lazarus Group crypto asset movements. Source: Certik 

Lazarus has also been linked to some of the most notorious crypto hacking incidents, including the $600 million Ronin network hack in 2022.

North Korean hackers stole over $1.3 billion worth of crypto assets in 47 incidents in 2024, more than doubling thefts in 2023, according to Chainalysis data.

New Lazarus malware detected

According to researchers at cybersecurity firm Socket, Lazarus Group has deployed six new malicious packages to infiltrate developer environments, steal credentials, extract cryptocurrency data and install backdoors. 

It has targeted the Node Package Manager (NPM) ecosystem, which is a large collection of JavaScript packages and libraries.

Researchers discovered malware called “BeaverTail” embedded in packages that mimic legitimate libraries using typosquatting tactics or methods used to deceive developers. 

“Across these packages, Lazarus uses names that closely mimic legitimate and widely trusted libraries,” they added. 

Related: Inside the Lazarus Group money laundering strategy

The malware also targets cryptocurrency wallets, specifically Solana and Exodus wallets, the added. 

Code snippet showing Solana wallet attacks. Source: Socket

The attack targets files in Google Chrome, Brave and Firefox browsers, as well as keychain data on macOS, specifically targeting developers who might unknowingly install the malicious packages.

The researchers noted that attributing this attack definitively to Lazarus remains challenging; however, “the tactics, techniques, and procedures observed in this npm attack closely align with Lazarus’s known operations.” 

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