Global Newspapers Today: North Korean Hackers Steal $1.5 Billion in Cryptocurrency and British Criticism of Washington Over Putin
Today, global newspapers reported on several issues, notably the theft of $1.5 billion in cryptocurrency by hackers from North Korea and British criticisms of Washington regarding Putin. North Korean hackers stole $1.5 billion in a single heist, making it the largest cryptocurrency hack ever, as they breached Bybit, the second-largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world with over 40 million users.
According to CNN, the hackers stole a significant portion of North Korea's reported annual GDP. Over the weekend, the hackers were already laundering about $160 million of the stolen loot through a series of accounts linked to North Korean clients.
TRM Labs, a cryptocurrency tracking company, stated that in one hacking incident, North Koreans nearly doubled what they had stolen in cryptocurrency the previous year. The American network reported that the recent incident serves as an early test of how the Trump administration would handle the significant challenge of trying to prevent North Korea from funding its nuclear and missile programs through hacking.
Nick Carlston, a former intelligence analyst at the FBI focusing on North Korea and now working at TRM Labs, said, "We have never seen anything of this magnitude before. The ability of these illicit financial networks to absorb such massive amounts of money so quickly is deeply concerning."
According to current and former U.S. and South Korean officials, North Korea's massive hacking corps is a primary source of revenue for its sanctioned nuclear armament. Reports from the United Nations and private firms indicate that North Korean hackers have stolen billions of dollars from banks and cryptocurrency companies in recent years. A White House official stated in 2023 that about half of North Korea's missile program was funded through such digital thefts.
Ben Zhou, CEO of Bybit, told users that the company is capable of repaying its debts and can cover the $1.5 billion loss. The company announced it would give 10% of any recovered funds to security experts who played a role in retrieving the stolen money.
Investigators are now attempting to intercept some of the $1.5 billion stolen from Bybit. A group of cryptocurrency security experts has reported that they have helped recover about $43 million of the stolen funds so far. Carlston, the former FBI analyst, stated that the United States and others need to be more aggressive in trying to intercept the stolen cryptocurrency loot from North Korea.