(ReclaimingAmerica.net) – In an unprecedented cyber attack, North Korea’s Lazarus Group has pilfered $1.5 billion in cryptocurrency from the Bybit exchange.
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This audacious heist underscores Pyongyang’s burgeoning cyber warfare capabilities aimed at bolstering its tenuous economy.
With stolen digital assets being dispersed across blockchains, it remains unclear if international authorities halt North Korea’s illegal operations before these funds infiltrate traditional financial systems.
The Bybit exchange hack stands as the largest cryptocurrency theft ever recorded, marking a new era in North Korean cyber aggression.
Known for its audacious cyber breaches, the Lazarus Group—also called TraderTraitor—has yet again garnered international attention.
FBI confirmed the cybercriminals behind this theft, pinpointing Lazarus Group.
It is a sobering reminder of the sophisticated lengths North Korea will traverse to supplement its economy and support its military ambitions.
The stolen Bybit assets have already been altered into Bitcoin, with the criminals intending to launder these through thousands of blockchain addresses.
The conversion to fiat currency appears imminent, according to the FBI, demonstrating the difficulty of international financial governance in a digital age.
“TraderTraitor actors are proceeding rapidly and have converted some of the stolen assets to Bitcoin and other virtual assets dispersed across thousands of addresses on multiple blockchains. It is expected these assets will be further laundered and eventually converted to fiat currency,” the FBI said.
While the world watches, Bybit works to rectify the breach.
The hack transpired as Ethereum was transferred between Bybit’s cold and hot wallets, siphoning funds to a Lazarus-controlled address.
FBI has released addresses linked to the theft, requesting platforms block related transactions.
Blockchain experts worldwide have been consulted by Bybit to track the stolen funds, emphasizing the necessity of international collaboration in tackling such threats.
“The forensic review into the targeted attack by the Lazarus Group on Bybit concluded that this attack targeted to the Bybit Safe was achieved through a compromised Safe{Wallet} developer machine resulting in the proposal of a disguised malicious transaction,” Safe said.
The Lazarus Group’s familiar methods have once more succeeded.
They’ve previously stolen over $6 billion in cryptocurrency, funding North Korea’s military projects.
The group engages malware in crypto-trading apps to extract valuable assets, a tactic seen in the Bybit affair.
To put the magnitude of this theft in perspective, $1.5 billion is approximately 5% of North Korea’s estimated 2023 GDP.
Cybersecurity professionals confirm overlaps between Bybit addresses and past North Korean thefts, recalling the notorious sophistication of such cybercriminals.
Despite Bybit’s commendable response, the world cannot ignore the implications of North Korea’s relentless economic offensives nor the potential threats they pose to global security.
The constant evasion of digital law enforcement by rogue states like North Korea poses a formidable challenge that the world must confront decisively.
“It was a highly sophisticated hack that targeted cold wallets via a blind signing type of exploit, whereby the attackers create a fake interface that deceives users, since it is a near identical copy of the trusted platform,” wrote Manuel Villegas, an analyst at Julius Baer.
Largest crypto heist in history.
FBI accuses North Korea of being behind the theft of $1.5 billion worth of digital assets last week. The bureau said a group called TraderTraitor, also known as the Lazarus Group, was behind the thefthttps://t.co/wijIkLRODK pic.twitter.com/fqpuA9Soqj
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) February 27, 2025
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