The FBI has accused North Korean-linked hackers of orchestrating a major cryptocurrency theft, reportedly seizing around $1.5 billion worth of ethereum from a Dubai-based firm, Bybit, earlier this month.
The big picture: The hackers, identified as TraderTraitor and the Lazarus Group, are known for stealing cryptocurrency through the dissemination of tampered cryptocurrency trading applications containing malware designed to facilitate theft.
- In a public announcement, the FBI warned that the hackers have already converted a portion of the stolen assets to Bitcoin and dispersed them across thousands of addresses on multiple blockchains. The agency expects these assets to be further laundered and eventually converted to fiat currency.
- North Korean state media has not acknowledged the theft, although South Korea’s spy agency estimates that North Korea has stolen approximately $1.2 billion in cryptocurrency and other virtual assets over the past five years.
Why it matters: The stolen funds serve as a crucial source of foreign currency to support North Korea’s fragile economy and fund its nuclear program in the face of stringent U.N. sanctions and border closures during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Zoom in: A U.N. experts panel is investigating 58 suspected cyberattacks by North Korea between 2017 to 2023, estimating that about $3 billion was stolen for the development of weapons of mass destruction.
What they’re saying: Bybit’s co-founder and CEO, Ben Zhou, acknowledged the FBI’s announcement and offered $140 million in bounties for tracking the stolen crypto and getting it frozen by other exchanges. Bybit confirmed that a routine transfer of ethereum from an offline wallet was manipulated by an attacker using a highly sophisticated exploit.
