The FBI confirmed the Lazaros Group in North Korea, behind a standard of $ 1.5 billion

In what security experts call the largest breach in the history of Blockchain transactions, the FBI confirmed that the state -backed Lazaros Group in North Korea has organized a huge theft of $ 1.5 billion of Cryptocurrency Exchange earlier this month.

The infiltrators, also known as Tradertraitor, began to wash stolen assets, transfer parts into Bitcoin and disperse money across thousands of headlines on several groups, according to the public service announced at the FBI on Wednesday.

“Tradertraitor is going quickly,” the FBI stated. “These assets are expected to be additionally washed and eventually converted into Fiat.”

The February 21 attack targeted the ETHEREUM holdings, including symbols that cause liquid wealth, with about 499,,000 ETH stolen. Spotonchain notes for Blockchain Analytics that the infiltrators have already washed about 100,000 ETH (about $ 250 million) in less than four days, which represents approximately 20 % of the stolen money.

Advanced attack methodology

According to Manuel Veligas, the analyst in Julius Bayer, the breach included a very sophisticated approach targeting the cold wallet. “The attackers have created a fake interface that deceives users, because it is a copy of the reliable platform,” explained Veligas.

Bybit emphasized that the routine transport of ETHEREUM from the “cold” portfolio is not connected to the Internet has been manipulated by the attackers who re -directed the encrypted currency to unlimited addresses. “The developer machine was at risk, allowing the infiltrators to deceive the owners of a multiple cold wallet in the signature of harmful treatment,” a secure, a secure, stated that “the developer machine was at risk, allowing the infiltrators to deceive the owners of multiple cold wallets in signing harmful treatment.”

Mobilization of industry against infiltrators

Ben Chu, BYBIT CEO, Mobilized the encryption community to join what he calls a “war against Lazaros”, as a bonus site launched $ 140 million as bonuses to track stolen encryption and freezing by other exchanges.

“We will not stop until Lazaros or bad actors in the industry are canceled,” Zhou announced on the X.

The FBI released a list of 51 ETHEREUM addresses associated with the attack and urged exchange exchanges, node operators and other industry participants to prevent transactions related to these titles. Blockchain Analytics Elliptic has already informed more than 11,000 addresses suspected of being connected to the accident.

North Korea’s increasing online threat

This attack highlights the use of North Korea for electronic crimes to finance state operations amid international sanctions. According to South Korea’s intelligence agency, North Korea has stolen an estimated $ 1.2 billion of cryptocurrencies and other virtual assets in the past five years.

The United Nations Experts Committee is currently achieving 58 suspected electronic attacks in North Korea between 2017 and 2023, which amounted to about 3 billion dollars, and it is reported that it helps in financing the country’s arms development programs.

The theft of 2024 exceeds the previous attacks, as the North Korean infiltrators have already stole more than $ 1.3 billion of digital assets this year, compared to $ 660 million in 2023.

Market impact

The theft in the recent downward pressure on the prices of cryptocurrencies contributed, as Bitcoin was traded by about $ 82,000 on Thursday, a decrease of more than 100,000 dollars per month.

Despite the attack, the United Arab Emirates, where Bybit, continued organizational approvals, to support the country’s stock market operations. Dubai has emerged as a center for cryptocurrencies and investors, as the United Arab Emirates got more than $ 30 billion in encryption transactions between July 2023 and June 2024, according to Blockchain analysis.