Mon, 10 Mar 2025

Mon, 10 Mar 2025 North Korean hackers cash out hundreds of millions from $1.5bn ByBit hack

Hackers from the infamous Lazarus Group are in a cat-and-mouse game to launder their stolen funds from the ByBit heist.
North Korean regime-linked hackers, known as Lazarus Group, have successfully laundered at least $300m (£232m) of their record-breaking $1.5bn cryptocurrency heist. The hack occurred two weeks ago on crypto exchange ByBit and has been a cat-and-mouse game to track and block the hackers' attempts to convert the digital tokens into cash. Experts say the Lazarus Group is working nearly 24 hours a day, potentially funneling the money into the regime's military development. According to Dr Tom Robinson, co-founder of crypto investigators Elliptic, North Korea is the best at laundering cryptocurrency among all criminal actors involved in the industry. The hackers' activity suggests they have an automated system and years of experience, with only brief breaks each day. Elliptic's analysis tallies with ByBit's statement that 20% of the funds have "gone dark", making it unlikely to be recovered. The US and allies accuse North Korea of carrying out dozens of hacks in recent years to fund military and nuclear development. The Lazarus Group is believed to have hacked one of ByBit's suppliers, altering a digital wallet address to send 401,000 Ethereum coins to the hackers instead of ByBit's own wallet. ByBit has replenished the stolen coins with loans from investors and has set up a "Lazarus Bounty" programme to encourage the public to help track down the stolen funds. However, experts are pessimistic about recovering the rest of the funds due to North Korea's expertise in hacking and laundering money. Another problem is that not all crypto companies are willing to cooperate with efforts to block the hackers' attempts to cash out. The exchange eXch has been accused by ByBit and others of allowing more than $90m to be funnelled through its platform, despite claims from its owner that it was initially unclear where the coins came from. North Korea's use of hacking for financial gain is unprecedented, with the Lazarus Group previously targeting banks but now specializing in cryptocurrency companies. The industry lacks effective mechanisms to prevent money laundering by hackers.
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