North Korean Hackers Lazarus Group Move $12M to Tornado Cash

Despite sanctions against Tornado Cash, North Korea’s Lazarus Group has returned to using the crypto mixer to launder stolen funds from hacks.

According to Elliptic, a blockchain analytics firm, around $12 million worth of cryptocurrency has been transferred from the group to Tornado’s wallets since March 13. These funds were originally stolen in November from the HTX exchange and its associated cross-chain bridge, HECO.

The attack resulted in $30 million being taken from the exchange’s hot wallets and $86.6 million from the HECO Chain. The stolen funds were then converted to Ether through decentralized exchanges and remained dormant until recently.

Tornado Cash is a privacy tool that runs on the Ethereum blockchain and does not require users to rely on a third party. It operates through smart contracts, allowing deposits from one address to be withdrawn from a different address.