On Friday, a group of hackers stole 401,346 Ethereum from the Bybit cryptocurrency exchange, which is currently worth around $1 billion (~RM 4.43 billion). It is believed to be the world’s largest crypto heist to date. Days after the heist, crypto fraud researcher ZachXBT found evidence that the crime was carried out by the Lazarus hacking group, which has ties to North Korea.
Bybit said the hackers accessed the company’s offline crypto wallet. After the 401,346 Ethereum were stolen, they were then transferred to several digital wallet addresses used by North Korea to launder money illegally.
Although the majority of North Koreans do not have access to computers and the internet, the hacking group was set up by the government to generate illegal income. The various economic restrictions imposed mean that North Korea cannot officially trade with the outside world.