Source: Cointelegraph Original: "{title}"
Hackers linked to North Korea may scale back their operations in the second half of 2024 while preparing for the largest cryptocurrency hack in history.
On February 21, Bybit was attacked by the notorious North Korean Lazarus Group, resulting in losses exceeding $1.4 billion.
According to data from blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis, illegal activities associated with North Korean cyber actors sharply declined after July 1, 2024, despite a surge in attacks earlier that year.
Eric Jardine, head of cybercrime research at Chainalysis, stated that the slowdown in cryptocurrency hacking operations by North Korean agents has raised significant concerns.
North Korean hacking activities around July 1. Source: Chainalysis
On March 26, Jardine told Cointelegraph on the Chainreaction show that North Korea's economic slowdown "began with the summit between Russia and North Korea (North Korea), which led to a reallocation of resources, including the redeployment of military personnel to the battlefield in Ukraine."
He added, "The slowdown we are observing may be a reorganization to select new targets and probe infrastructure, and it may also be related to these geopolitical events."
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According to Cointelegraph's report on March 4, the Lazarus Group took 10 days to launder 100% of the stolen funds from Bybit through the decentralized cross-chain protocol THORChain.
Nevertheless, blockchain security experts remain hopeful that Bybit can freeze and recover some of the funds. As of March 20, over 80% of the stolen $1.4 billion remains traceable as blockchain investigators continue their efforts to freeze and recover the funds.
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Analysts say the Bybit attack highlights that even centralized exchanges with robust security measures are still vulnerable to sophisticated cyberattacks.
Meir Dolev, co-founder and CTO of Cyvers, noted that this attack bears similarities to the $230 million WazirX hack and the $58 million Radiant Capital hack.
Dolev explained that the Ethereum multisig cold wallet was compromised through deceptive transactions that tricked signers into unknowingly approving malicious changes to smart contract logic.
Dolev told Cointelegraph, "This allowed the hackers to gain control of the cold wallet and transfer all Ethereum to an unknown address."
North Korean hacking activities. Source: Chainalysis
Data from Chainalysis shows that throughout 2024, North Korean hackers stole over $1.34 billion in digital assets through 47 incidents, a 102% increase from $660 million in 2023.
This accounts for 61% of the total stolen cryptocurrency in 2024.
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