North Korea Behind $1.5B Bybit Crypto Hack, FBI Says

North Korea has been linked to a massive cyber attack on Dubai-based cryptocurrency exchange Bybit, with the FBI stating that a North Korean group called TraderTraitor was behind the theft of nearly $1.5 billion in virtual assets.

The hack occurred when hackers seized control of a wallet used to store Ethereum and transferred its contents to another address, leaving 401,000 Ethereum assets affected. Bybit's CEO, Ben Zhou, described the attack as "sophisticated" and said that it was carried out through a manipulated signing interface, which displayed the correct address while altering the underlying smart contract logic.

The FBI has warned that TraderTraitor actors are rapidly converting some of the stolen assets to Bitcoin and dispersing them across thousands of addresses on multiple blockchains. The agency also urged the private sector to help block transactions from addresses associated with TradeTraitor, as it is expected these assets will be further laundered and eventually converted to fiat currency.

Blockchain investigations firm TRM has described the hack as the "largest exploit on record" and believes North Korea was behind the theft with a "high degree of confidence". The firm pointed out that there were substantial overlaps between addresses controlled by the Bybit hackers and those linked to prior North Korean thefts.

Bybit is one of the largest crypto exchanges in the world, and the attack exposed vulnerabilities in cryptocurrency security, especially storage systems. Cybersecurity advisor Jake Moore said that the level of coordination in the attack pointed towards an established group large enough and knowledgeable enough to pull it off.

North Korea has been behind a string of cyber attacks and online heists in recent years, with security experts saying that it uses them as a source of much-needed funds to boost its economy. Cybersecurity firm NCC Group stated that due to government support and direction, cyber-attacks have become a thriving 'field' in North Korea.

Bybit has offered a $140 million bounty for help in tracing and freezing the stolen assets, with Zhou sharing the FBI announcement on X. The incident highlights the ongoing threat of North Korean cyber attacks and the need for increased security measures in the cryptocurrency industry.