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The Bybit cryptocurrency exchange has reportedly suffered a massive security breach, with hackers allegedly linked to North Korea making off with $1.4 billion in Ethereum. This incident is being called potentially the largest crypto theft in history. Experts from multiple blockchain security companies have confirmed that the stolen Ethereum has already been moved to new addresses, marking the initial phase of money laundering.

Ari Redbord, a former federal prosecutor and senior Treasury official, highlighted the "unprecedented level of operational efficiency" displayed by the hackers in rapidly laundering the stolen funds. He suggested that North Korea might have expanded its money laundering infrastructure or that underground financial networks, particularly in China, have enhanced their capacity to process illicit funds. The FBI has also linked North Korea-linked TraderTraitor as responsible for the $1.5 Billion Bybit hack

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References :

• Sergiu Gatlan: Forensic investigators have discovered that North Korean Lazarus hackers stole $1.5 billion from Bybit after first breaching a Safe{Wallet} developer machine.
• Secure Bulletin: The Lazarus Group, a notorious North Korean state-sponsored hacking collective, has once again demonstrated its sophistication and audacity with a staggering $1.5 billion cryptocurrency heist targeting Bybit, a major crypto exchange.
• securityaffairs.com: The FBI confirmed that North Korea is responsible for the record-breaking cyber heist at the crypto exchange Bybit.
• infosec.exchange: Hacked crypto exchange Bybit is offering $140 million in bounties to anyone who can help locate and freeze the stolen ethereum. Bybit also disclosed preliminary results of investigations, which reveal hackers breached a developer’s device at a wallet platform Safe Wallet.
• SecureWorld News: Bybit Hack: FBI Attributes to North Korea, Urges Crypto Sector to Act
• The Register - Security: FBI officially fingers North Korea for $1.5B Bybit crypto-burglary
• PCMag UK security: FBI Blames North Korea for Massive $1.4 Billion Cryptocurrency Heist
• Zack Whittaker: your weekly ~ this week in security ~ is out: • North Korea's record-breaking $1.4B crypto heist
• www.cysecurity.news: Bybit Suffers Historic $1.5 Billion Crypto Hack, Lazarus Group Implicated
• infosec.exchange: NEW: The (allegedly North Korean) hackers behind the Bybit crypto heist have already laundered all the stolen Ethereum, which was worth $1.4 billion. Ari Redbord, former federal prosecutor and senior Treasury official, told me this laundering shows “unprecedented level of operational efficiency,â€� but there's more steps they need to take to cash out. “This rapid laundering suggests that North Korea has either expanded its money laundering infrastructure or that underground financial networks, particularly in China, have enhanced their capacity to absorb and process illicit funds,â€� said Redbord.
• The Record: Experts from multiple blockchain security companies said that North Korean hackers were able to move all of the ETH coins stolen from Bybit to new addresses — the first step taken before the funds can be laundered further
• The Record: A provincial court in Barcelona has ordered that three former senior executives at NSO Group be indicted for their alleged role in a high-profile hacking scandal in which at least 63 Catalan civil society members were targeted with the company’s surveillance technology
• Know Your Adversary: News item discussing the massive Bybit crypto theft, potentially the largest in history.
• Metacurity: Lazarus Group hackers have laundered 100% of the $1.4 billion they stole from Bybit
• The Hacker News: Safe{Wallet} Confirms North Korean TraderTraitor Hackers Stole $1.5 Billion in Bybit Heist

Classification:

• HashTags: #cryptocurrency #BybitHack #LazarusGroup
• Company: Bybit
• Target: Bybit
• Attacker: Lazarus Group
• Product: Exchange
• Feature: wallet signatures manipulation
• Malware: BeaverTail
• Type: Hack
• Severity: Disaster