Cosmos Developer Releases ‘Urgent Warning’ About ATOM Liquid Staking Model, Says North Koreans Wrote Code
The developer of interconnected blockchain network Cosmos (ATOM) is warning that the Liquid Staking Module (LSM) of the Cosmos Hub poses serious security risks. In a statement, Cosmos co-founder Jae Kwon says that when developer Zaki Manian began building the LSM in August 2021, Jun Kai and Sarawut Sanit, coders who were later linked to North Korea, wrote most of the module’s code. Kwon says the same North Korean developers also fixed the vulnerabilities identified by an Oak Security audit in July 2022. “This not only undermined the integrity of the remediation process but also gave the potential creators of the vulnerabilities the opportunity to either fix or obscure any intentional weakness they may have introduced, potentially exposing the system to further risks.” Kwon says that in March 2023, the FBI informed Manian about the involvement of North Korea in the project, but instead of disclosing the information to the Cosmos community, Manian announced in Apr...
