[Trending News] North Korean hackers carry out the largest robbery of cryptocurrencies in history: 1.5 billion dollars

In an unprecedented blow, computer pirates linked to the North Korean regime have carried out the highest robbery of cryptocurrencies recorded to date, subtracting 1.5 billion dollars of the Bybit exchange platform, as announced by the company itself. The magnitude of the attack has generated concern in the international community and has revealed the sophisticated tactics of North Korean hackers for Finance the Nuclear Program of the Asian country.

The attack, which occurred last Friday, affected Bybit, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchange platforms in the world, With more than 40 million users. According to the TRM Labs cryptocurrency tracking firm, in just minutes the hackers managed to extract a sum equivalent to a significant part of the declared annual GDP of North Korea, according to the CNN.

During the weekend after the attack, the pirates had already begun to bleach about 160 million of dollars through a complex network of digital transactions linked to North Korean agents. Security experts have explained to the CNN chain that this attack has doubled the amount of cryptocurrencies stolen by North Korea throughout the previous year.

Bybit's response

Despite the magnitude of the robbery, the executive director of Bybit, Ben Zhou, has assured in a statement the users who The company is solvent and can cover the loss of 1.5 billion dollars. “Bybit has worked closely with regulators and law enforcement agencies to address the attack,” says the text.

Meanwhile, a team of researchers and security experts is working to recover part of the stolen money. So far, they have managed to seize 43 million dollars in stolen fundsaccording to the company's specialists. Bybit has also announced that it will reward with 10% of the funds recovered to security experts that contribute to the location of stolen money.

The North Korean system

The sophisticated body of computer pirates of North Korea is an essential source of income for Kim Jong-un dictatorshipwhich operates under severe international sanctions. According to UN reports and private security signatures, in recent years these hackers have stolen billions of dollars to banks and cryptocurrency companies worldwide. A White House official said in 2023 that approximately half of the missile program North Korea has been financed with this type of criminal operations.

Nick Carlsen, former intelligence analyst at the FBI and current TRM Labs researcherhe explained to the CNN the seriousness of the incident. “We have never seen anything of this magnitude. The capacity of these illicit financial networks to absorb such large amounts of money is very worrying,” he said to the US chain.