Hackers thought to be working for the North Korean regime have successfully cashed out at least $300m (£232m) of their record-breaking $1.5bn crypto heist. The criminals, known as Lazarus Group, swiped the huge haul of digital tokens in a hack on crypto exchange ByBit two weeks ago.
Experts tracking the stolen funds say the hackers are working nearly 24 hours a day, likely channeling the money into the regime’s military programmes. Dr. Tom Robinson, co-founder of Elliptic, stated, “Every minute matters for the hackers who are trying to confuse the money trail and they are extremely sophisticated in what they’re doing.”
ByBit lost 401,000 Ethereum coins after hackers secretly altered a wallet address during a transfer. The stolen funds were meant for ByBit’s digital wallet but were instead redirected to the hackers. ByBit CEO Ben Zhou assured customers that their funds were safe, as the firm replenished losses using investor loans.
Read more: Hackers Steal $2.2 Billion from Crypto Platforms
“I imagine they have an entire room of people doing this using automated tools and years of experience. We can also see from their activity that they only take a few hours break each day, possibly working in shifts to get the crypto turned into cash.”
20% Funds Gone Dark
Elliptic’s analysis tallies with ByBit, which says that 20% of the funds have now “gone dark,” meaning it is unlikely to ever be recovered. He also launched the Lazarus Bounty programme, urging people to help trace and freeze stolen funds. More than $40 million has been identified, with participants earning over $4 million in rewards.
Despite these efforts, experts remain doubtful about recovering all the stolen funds. Elliptic’s analysis and ByBit’s reports indicate that 20% of the stolen crypto has “gone dark,” meaning it may never be recovered. Dr. Dorit Dor from cyber security firm Check Point said, “North Korea is a very closed system and closed economy, so they created a successful industry for hacking and laundering and they don’t care about the negative impression of cyber crime.”
ByBit and other firms have also accused crypto exchange eXch of helping hackers cash out over $90 million. eXch’s owner, Johann Roberts, admitted they initially failed to block the transfers due to a dispute with ByBit. However, he now claims to be cooperating. North Korea has never acknowledged the Lazarus Group, but the U.S. has accused them of funding the country’s military through cybercrime. The FBI has listed some Lazarus members on its Cyber Most Wanted list, though their chances of being arrested remain slim.
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