Canada Global (Web News) The FBI has accused North Korea of stealing $1.5 billion in digital assets from the Dubai-based cryptocurrency exchange Bybit, marking the largest crypto heist in history.
Bybit reported the theft of 400,000 Ethereum, stating that attackers exploited security vulnerabilities to transfer the assets to an unknown address. The FBI attributed the attack to the Lazarus Group, also known as TraderTraitor, which has since converted some of the stolen funds into Bitcoin and distributed them across multiple blockchains for laundering.
The Lazarus Group has a history of cybercrimes, including the 2014 Sony Pictures hack and the $620 million Ronin Network theft in 2022. It was also linked to a $300 million hack of Japan-based DMM Bitcoin in December.
North Korea’s cyber-warfare efforts date back to the 1990s, with a 6,000-member hacking unit known as Bureau 121. Reports suggest these cyber operations, directed by Pyongyang’s intelligence agency, have stolen over $3 billion in cryptocurrency since 2017 to fund North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.
