The Federal Bureau of Investigation of the United States has alleged that North Korea was responsible for the recent theft of digital assets valued at $1.5 billion, marking it as the largest cryptocurrency heist to date.
Bybit, a cryptocurrency exchange based in Dubai, reported last week that it had suffered a theft involving 400,000 in Ethereum cryptocurrency.
The company indicated that the attackers took advantage of vulnerabilities in security protocols during a transaction, which allowed them to transfer the assets to an unknown address.
On Wednesday, the US government officially implicated Pyongyang in the incident.
The FBI stated in a public service announcement, “North Korea was responsible for the theft of approximately $1.5 billion USD in virtual assets from the cryptocurrency exchange, Bybit.”
The bureau identified a group known as TraderTraitor, also referred to as the Lazarus Group, as the perpetrators of the theft.
They noted that the group was “acting swiftly and has converted some of the stolen assets into Bitcoin and other virtual currencies, which have been distributed across thousands of addresses on various blockchains.”
The FBI further indicated that these assets are likely to be laundered and ultimately converted into fiat currency.
The Lazarus Group became infamous a decade ago when it was accused of hacking Sony Pictures in retaliation for the film “The Interview,” which ridiculed North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Additionally, it was reportedly involved in the $620 million theft of Ethereum and USD Coin from the Ronin Network in 2022, which was previously recognized as the largest cryptocurrency theft in history.
In December, both the United States and Japan attributed the theft of over $300 million in cryptocurrency from the Japan-based exchange DMM Bitcoin to this group.
North Korea’s cyber-warfare initiatives can be traced back to at least the mid-1990s, with a cybersecurity firm labeling the nation as “the world’s most prolific cyber-thief.”
According to a 2020 report from the US military, Pyongyang has developed a cyber-warfare unit comprising 6,000 personnel, known as Bureau 121, which operates from various countries.
A United Nations panel investigating North Korea’s sanctions evasion estimated that the country has appropriated over $3 billion in cryptocurrency since 2017.
Much of this hacking activity is reportedly orchestrated by Pyongyang’s Reconnaissance General Bureau, which serves as its main foreign intelligence agency.
The funds acquired through these cyber activities are believed to support the nation’s nuclear weapons program, as indicated by the panel.
