FBI accuses Hockers in North Korea of ​​stealing $ 1.5 billion in Crypto from Dubai company

ROME -FBI accused hackers of North Korea of ​​led one of the greatest thefts of cryptocurrency known publiclytaking over about $ 1.5 billion from Ethereum from a company in Dubai.

Theft from the beginning of this month, which aims at Bybit, one of the largest crypto shifts in the world, is another one that involves a team of hackers identified by the US government by the traitor and Lazarus Group.

Hackers steal cryptocurrency “by disseminating cryptocurrency trading applications that have been modified to include malware that facilitates cryptocurrency,” FBI said.

FBI issues warning that connects pyongyang to theft

In an announcement of the online public service, Wednesday, FBI said that he believes that sustained Hackers in North Korea are “responsible for theft.”

“The traitor actors are fast and have transformed some of the assets stolen into Bitcoin and other virtual assets dispersed on thousands of addresses on several blockchain,” FBI said in his announcement. “It is expected that these assets will continue to be washed and, finally converted to Fiat currency.”

The media -the state media in North Korea has not recognized neither the theft nor the accusation of the FBI. Pyongyang’s mission to the United Nations in Geneva did not respond immediately to a comment request from Associated Press.

It seems that the northern -Korean theft finances the nuclear weapon program

However, North Korea stole about $ 1.2 billion in cryptocurrency and other virtual assets of the last five years, according to the South Korean spy Agency. It represents a rare source of foreign currency needed to support its fragile economy and to finance its nuclear program in front of intense UN sanctions and strict border closures in North Korea during the Coronavirus Pandemic.

A group of UN experts said separately that he investigated 58 by Cyberattacks suspected by North Korea between 2017-2023, who registered about $ 3 billion to “help to financing the development of weapons by mass destruction by countries.”

The Bybit co-founder and CEO, Ben Zhou, recognized the FBI announcement in a post on the Social Platform X, by connecting to a website that offers $ 140 million in rewards to track the crypto and to freeze other exchanges.

Bybit said that a routine transfer of Ethereum, one of the most popular cryptocurrency, from a so-called “cold” or offline wallet was “manipulated” by an attacker who transferred the crypto to an unidentified address.

“It was an extremely sophisticated hack that targeted cold wallets through a type of blind signature, by which the attackers create a false interface that deceives users, because it is an almost identical copy of the trusted platform,” wrote Manuel Villegas, analyst at Julius Baer.

Blockchain Analytics Certak described theft as the “biggest violation” in the history of Blockchain transactions.

Theft saw Generally crypto -cad prices over the past few days While investors were partly supported by hack, despite the fact that the industry has obtained an impulse from the choice of US President Donald Trump. The leader of the Bitcoin industry traded over $ 82,000 on the coin on Thursday, decreasing from a maximum level of over $ 100,000 a month ago.

“The situation … is definitely painful for Bybit customers and will probably raise additional regulatory control,” Villegas added.