Blockchain Bandit Attacker Moves Over 50,000 ETH After 2 Years of Silence

Key Points:

• Blockchain Bandit attacker moved 51,000 stolen ETH, worth $172 million, and 470 Bitcoin into a single multisignature wallet after two years of inactivity.
• From 2016 to 2018, the attacker used Ethercombing to guess private keys, stealing nearly 45,000 ETH through cryptographic vulnerabilities.

A hacker known as “Blockchain Bandit” has struck again, consolidating approximately 51,000 stolen Ether into a single wallet valued at about $172 million after laying low for almost two years.

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Blockchain Bandit Attacker Moves $172 Million in Stolen Crypto After Dormancy

The transfer is the latest by the notorious cyber-criminal after being silent since January 21, 2023.

These funds were sent from the ten addresses in batches of around 5,000 ETH each to the multisig wallet address “0xC45…1D542.” Besides Ethereum, the hacker transferred 470 Bitcoin in the same operation, renewing fresh speculation on his possible next moves.

Experts Suspect North Korean Links to Infamous Cybercriminal

The Blockchain Bandit attacker was a well-known attacker active from 2016 to 2018 who stole significant amounts using the weakness of private keys.

The Ethercombing technique used in this attack is based on exploiting cryptographic vulnerabilities and poor implementation of random key generators to guess private keys. This sort of programmatic theft unearthed 732 private keys and resulted in the loss of close to 45,000 ETH through 49,060 transactions.

Most of these operations took place in 2018, but while a good number of investigations are still ongoing, the Blockchain Bandit attacker remains unknown.

However, some cybersecurity experts think that the attack might be connected with North Korean hacker groups, judging by their previous attacks on cryptocurrency platforms. Notably, these groups are also suspected of probing the security systems of the crypto exchange Hyperliquid.