North Korean hackers have stolen $1.5bn (£1.2bn) in cryptocurrency from a Dubai-based exchange Bybit.
The hackers backed by the North Korean government breached the Bybit systems in what appears to be the biggest heist in history of cryptocurrency theft. Bybit, describes itself as the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency exchange, with over 40 million users.
“We’ve never seen anything on this scale before. The ability of these illicit financial networks to absorb such huge amounts of money so quickly is deeply concerning,” said Nick Carlsen, a former FBI intelligence analyst focused on North Korea who now works at TRM Labs.
The hackers stole more cryptocurrency in one attack than all the funds stolen by North Korean cyber criminals in 2024, when the rogue state’s cyber attackers made off with around $1.3bn in digital coins, according to cryptocurrency analysts Chainalysis.
The $1.5bn total eclipses the largest known bank theft of all time, when Saddam Hussein stole $1bn from the Iraqi central bank ahead of the Iraq War in 2003.
The record haul comes as Kim Jong-un, North Korea’s supreme leader, turns to elite units of computer hackers to prop up the Communist dictatorship’s failing economy.
Chainalysis said the attack served as a “stark reminder” of the advanced tactics employed by the country’s hackers. As well as technical skills, North Korean hackers are adept at what is known as “social engineering”: manipulating people to do what they want in order to pave the way for a heist. With Telegraph reports
