Hackers connected with North Korea have been accused of being behind the Axie Infinity attack, one of the biggest crypto-heists to date.

According to Sky Mavis, the company behind Axie Infinity, the FBI has claimed that North Korea-linked Lazarus Group and APT38 stole cryptocurrencies estimated to be worth over $600 million as part of the heist. The digital currency address where the stolen funds were transferred is believed to be under the control of Lazarus.

Lazarus has also been connected with the 2014 Sony Pictures hack, made in connection with the company’s planned release of The Interview – a film that mocked North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

The US Treasury Department has since sanctioned the address that received the stolen funds.

North Korea is estimated to operate a 6,000-person strong cyber-warfare unit known as Bureau 121. In addition to conducting reconnaissance, gathering intelligence and disrupting operations, Bureau 121 has been accused of gathering funds for North Korea’s nuclear missile programmes.

“The United States is aware that the DPRK has increasingly relied on illicit activities – including cybercrime – to generate revenue for its weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs as it tries to evade robust US and UN sanctions,” said a spokesperson for the Treasury Department.

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Ronin Network is a side-chain connected to the larger Ethereum blockchain. It was created by Vietnamese company Sky Mavis to support its highly popular video game Axie Infinity. The game sees millions of players around the world battle cartoon monsters called Axies in the hopes of winning cryptocurrency tokens and NFTs.

The attackers used hacked keys and took advantage of lacklustre security protocols to take control of Ronin Networks’ validation system. They were able to transfer assets into wallets they controlled.

Sky Mavis recently received a major $150m investment from leading crypto exchange Binance. The money will, in part, be used to cover the losses incurred by Sky Mavis’s userbase.

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