$1.5B Bybit Hack and North Korea

[GxSTxV]

Well, Im not that good or active in political matters or taking any side but what happened recently with the Bybit $1.5 billion hack by the Lazarus Group is becoming a huge political case. Most of us are aware, or at least pretty sure that this group is under the control of the North Korean government, personally it was new to me knowing the amount of their previous heists. Of course, they can’t confirm or deny their relationship but I believe it’s getting clearer with every hack they pull off, their strength and also accessibility to things that most normal citizens in North Korea aren’t capable of doing.

So, with the amount of funds stolen by this group, many people believe this is their way of funding the nuclear weapon system. I mean especially this time with $1.5 billion is no small amount, it’s enough to make you wonder how much of that is going straight into their military programs. But I was wondering, is this suggestion actually valid? Or do you think what happening is really different?

Away from that crypto platforms are supposed to be secure, Lazarus still able to pull off these massive heists is very dangerous, and if this is really funding something as dangerous as nuclear weapons, the rollback suggestion might really happen with Ethereum.

What do you guys think? Is the connection between these hacks and North Korea nuclear program as clear as it seem? Or are we missing something here

[FinneysTrueVision]

Ethereum isn’t going to roll back because the money has already been spread out too many places. It would affect too many people and businesses who had nothing to do with the hack. North Korea’s ability to fund their nuclear program won’t be affected because they already swapped to BTC and other currencies. You would have to roll back more than just the ETH blockchain to prevent them from using those funds. If Ethereum is really trying to be decentralized, they can’t just bail out exchanges every time there is a major hack.

As much fear mongering there is about their nuclear capabilities, I am not really worried. They have shown restraint despite being severely sanctioned with the intent of destroying their country. If they ever use their weapons it will be as a response to being attacked first.

[letteredhub]

Away from that crypto platforms are supposed to be secure, Lazarus still able to pull off these massive heists is very dangerous, and if this is really funding something as dangerous as nuclear weapons, the rollback suggestion might really happen with Ethereum.

What do you guys think? Is the connection between these hacks and North Korea nuclear program as clear as it seem? Or are we missing something here

We can only assume that there is a connection base on what the media has to say about all of these but if I am to be neutral I will want to wait to hear from the horse's mouth or more really from a provided evidence that strongly connects these hacks with North Korea and not just about what some geopolitical area media has got to say because we could be missing something here as you added.

As for crypto exchanges platform I think it's pretty much obvious that CEX can't be more secured than they have already tried to be and which makes for the clarion calls about "not your keys not your funds" phrase. You can't have your funds in CEX and be thinking that your funds are secured. Having our funds on private personal wallets keeps us away from such precarious events.

[Die_empty]

What do you guys think? Is the connection between these hacks and North Korea nuclear program as clear as it seem? Or are we missing something here

There is no concrete proof that it was the North Korean hackers that carried out this hack. Lazurous group have been linked to this hack because the patterns is consistent with it's recent cyberattack.

North Korea is a highly secluded country where getting information about anything is very difficult. It could also be that these hackers are not from North Korea because criminals can come from any country, religion or colour. But if it is confirmed that it is the Lazurous group that carried out this attack it will definitely be channeled to the financing of nuclear projects. The country have been hit with several economic sanctions that they would have to depend on criminal activities for survival.

[boyptc]

I do not think that there is a need to talk about any rollback. Exchanges like Bybit understands that being on this business has a greater risk reward ratio. And with what happened, it is one of the biggest risk that exchanges will ever face.

And as for these hacks from the Lazarus group is said to be North Korean sponsored. Which means that it is part of the activity and department of NK that they are aware of. How many criminals and heists are stopped and punished that originated there? Afaik, none because even the US government is having hard time in  entering into their jurisdiction.

[paxmao]

I am wondering why the rest of the world does not simply cut NK from internet. I mean, if China can have the Great Firewall of China, there must be an option for NK. The groups might operate from other countries that is sure, but at least these would be more exposed to being physically detected and caught.

[OgNasty]

It seemed at first they were trying to turn the ETH into SOL, but are now trying to move them into BTC.  Ironically, the ETH is gaining value because everyone knows Vitalik will use this as an excuse to fork and get a ton of free coins out of it.  Meanwhile, people are selling Bitcoin to buy ETH to take advantage of this short term opportunity, making it even more profitable for North Korea.  Sometimes the market can be a bit backwards.  At least the recent drop in BTC and rise in ETH is easily explainable.  It will reverse in a big way when this is all behind us.

[DaNNy001]

I am wondering why the rest of the world does not simply cut NK from internet. I mean, if China can have the Great Firewall of China, there must be an option for NK. The groups might operate from other countries that is sure, but at least these would be more exposed to being physically detected and caught.

The thing is that they as a nation is always at advantage in the sense that they have the upper hand in information prior to loop holes in other countries that would want to attack while their own nation is well secure as they don't associated much with the outside world and come to think of it isn't it surprising that their fellow Asian neighbors China can't do anything in terms of counter attack against NK

[franky1]

Well, Im not that good or active in political matters or taking any side but what happened recently with the Bybit $1.5 billion hack by the Lazarus Group is becoming a huge political case. Most of us are aware, or at least pretty sure that this group is under the control of the North Korean government, personally it was new to me knowing the amount of their previous heists. Of course, they can’t confirm or deny their relationship but I believe it’s getting clearer with every hack they pull off, their strength and also accessibility to things that most normal citizens in North Korea aren’t capable of doing.

So, with the amount of funds stolen by this group, many people believe this is their way of funding the nuclear weapon system. I mean especially this time with $1.5 billion is no small amount, it’s enough to make you wonder how much of that is going straight into their military programs. But I was wondering, is this suggestion actually valid? Or do you think what happening is really different?

Away from that crypto platforms are supposed to be secure, Lazarus still able to pull off these massive heists is very dangerous, and if this is really funding something as dangerous as nuclear weapons, the rollback suggestion might really happen with Ethereum.

What do you guys think? Is the connection between these hacks and North Korea nuclear program as clear as it seem? Or are we missing something here

why would a self contained country that doesnt do much international trade need to use money within its own government to pay its military using materials it mines, and builds itself in-country. (it can just print money, like many countries do)
its a communist country so all money leads back to government held by government spent by government and leads back to government

also i agree that north korea doesnt let its citizens have access to the full internet nor have good access to computers, so i dont see north korea having a high tech IT gang

even the word lazarus, does not even sound like a word of north korean religion, culture, language
EG wouldnt they call themselves (phonetically) 'geoji' which is korean for lazarus

edit:
from looking into it, the analysis sites seemed to have found co-mingling of bybit hack funds with funds from pervious hacks related to the lazarus group, and also there are ties of the lazarus group to north korean citizens and funding(previous arrests of previous heists)

[Kilkennyale]

Now it's clear who the thief is...

[Die_empty]

Away from that crypto platforms are supposed to be secure, Lazarus still able to pull off these massive heists is very dangerous, and if this is really funding something as dangerous as nuclear weapons, the rollback suggestion might really happen with Ethereum.

Hackers and scammers are seeking new ways to compromise the security of different platfroms. It is now important for these platfroms to always upgrade their security systems. Exchanges should be able to the ahead of scammers in terms of security. Some of these weapons produced by North Korea are been used by Russia to fight in the the Ukraine. With this amount that was hacked the country will invest more on research and development of it's nuclear programs..

[Dunamisx]

Well, Im not that good or active in political matters or taking any side but what happened recently with the Bybit $1.5 billion hack by the Lazarus Group is becoming a huge political case. Most of us are aware, or at least pretty sure that this group is under the control of the North Korean government, personally it was new to me knowing the amount of their previous heists. Of course, they can’t confirm or deny their relationship but I believe it’s getting clearer with every hack they pull off, their strength and also accessibility to things that most normal citizens in North Korea aren’t capable of doing.

I know about the Lazarus group and I also heard about the Bybit scam, but is there any evidence linking them together, we have to also consider the way many of the scammers are taking lead these days whereby they will scam or hack and cause confusion to the general public about those behind it, because they understand and know how to diversify attention.

So, with the amount of funds stolen by this group, many people believe this is their way of funding the nuclear weapon system. I mean especially this time with $1.5 billion is no small amount, it’s enough to make you wonder how much of that is going straight into their military programs. But I was wondering, is this suggestion actually valid? Or do you think what happening is really different?

If we are to reply on this, what about the previous hack attempts, what about other scammers from different parts of the world, anything we are presenting here must be with evidence unless we rendered them void.

[Hispo]

In my opinion, I think it is very possible whoever is behind this hack has affiliation with the north Korean government or the government of the Russian federation. It is well know those are countries which are pretty much complicit with hackers, as long as those hacks are carried out against foreign entities and not the home country itself.
Also, before claiming those stolen funds are going to be used to fuel the development of nuclear weapons, it would be necessary to identity the nationality and also the way those coins are converted into Fiat to acquire equipment and pay experts in nuclear technology.

Whatever the case, this is supposed to serve as another example of why one needs to embrace self-custody, as exchange will be targets for these criminals forever...

[ajiz138]

Sometimes I wonder if this Lazarus is really from North Korea? Although many attribute this hack to that country, we know they don't have the Internet like we do, or is it only the government that can use the Internet?

There are those who say that if Lazarus is really from North Korea then they get funds from criminals like hacking, because their government supports this action, so far I myself have only read the confusing news so it is not valid which one is true.

[Bushdark]

Sometimes I wonder if this Lazarus is really from North Korea? Although many attribute this hack to that country, we know they don't have the Internet like we do, or is it only the government that can use the Internet?

There are those who say that if Lazarus is really from North Korea then they get funds from criminals like hacking, because their government supports this action, so far I myself have only read the confusing news so it is not valid which one is true.

There had been so many claims that the Lazarus group is responsible for the hack that made Bybit to loss about 1.5 billion dollar worth of entherum from their cold wallet. It is very wise for the government to do something about this because this is not funny at all.
Their had been so many bad news about this hacker group which had made many exchanges to lose huge amounts of money from their cold wallets. Many exchange Tok have to be very observant not to get hacked through this means. Every exchanges need to keep observing and tightening their exchange cold wallet security.

[Odusko]

In my opinion, I think it is very possible whoever is behind this hack has affiliation with the north Korean government or the government of the Russian federation. It is well know those are countries which are pretty much complicit with hackers, as long as those hacks are carried out against foreign entities and not the home country itself.
Also, before claiming those stolen funds are going to be used to fuel the development of nuclear weapons, it would be necessary to identity the nationality and also the way those coins are converted into Fiat to acquire equipment and pay experts in nuclear technology.

Whatever the case, this is supposed to serve as another example of why one needs to embrace self-custody, as exchange will be targets for these criminals forever...

Hackers can claim anything and one could say I am from China meanwhile he could be from another country entirely, Lazarus group of hackers have been pointed to be responsible for this 1.5 billion hack on Bybit, but still do yet know where they are from as acclaimed, but we shouldn't forget the possibility of any political under tun that could be playing in this whole thing, since the hacking habe move from just criminals hacking to politically motivated one as identified right now, there is need for verification of those hackers identity to ascertain their nationality claims.

[o48o]

Well, Im not that good or active in political matters or taking any side but what happened recently with the Bybit $1.5 billion hack by the Lazarus Group is becoming a huge political case. Most of us are aware, or at least pretty sure that this group is under the control of the North Korean government, personally it was new to me knowing the amount of their previous heists. Of course, they can’t confirm or deny their relationship but I believe it’s getting clearer with every hack they pull off, their strength and also accessibility to things that most normal citizens in North Korea aren’t capable of doing.

So, with the amount of funds stolen by this group, many people believe this is their way of funding the nuclear weapon system. I mean especially this time with $1.5 billion is no small amount, it’s enough to make you wonder how much of that is going straight into their military programs. But I was wondering, is this suggestion actually valid? Or do you think what happening is really different?

Away from that crypto platforms are supposed to be secure, Lazarus still able to pull off these massive heists is very dangerous, and if this is really funding something as dangerous as nuclear weapons, the rollback suggestion might really happen with Ethereum.

What do you guys think? Is the connection between these hacks and North Korea nuclear program as clear as it seem? Or are we missing something here

I was aware about this instantly, because i have crypto newsfeed, but i have only seen small mention about this in is in my mainstream news feed.
If a physical bank robbery of $100 million dollars would take place, no matter where it had been, press would milk that for months.

Movies would be made from it like movies of far less money have been made, calling them great heists.

I guess when it's about crypto it's not "real" money to no-coiners. And frankly this is harder and harder to sell as money of the future when both decentralized and centralized exchanges are constantly being hacked.

[Iponemases]

I'm so sick of this North Korea cancer.

[o48o]

Ethereum isn’t going to roll back because the money has already been spread out too many places. It would affect too many people and businesses who had nothing to do with the hack. North Korea’s ability to fund their nuclear program won’t be affected because they already swapped to BTC and other currencies. You would have to roll back more than just the ETH blockchain to prevent them from using those funds. If Ethereum is really trying to be decentralized, they can’t just bail out exchanges every time there is a major hack.

As much fear mongering there is about their nuclear capabilities, I am not really worried. They have shown restraint despite being severely sanctioned with the intent of destroying their country. If they ever use their weapons it will be as a response to being attacked first.

And for normal criminal, washing that money would be impossible, but they have whole country's resources to do that so it's interesting to see how much they manage to clear.

I am guessing that they are waiting until DOGE is removing some regulatory oversight that's responsible to monitor the sources. Who knows, maybe USA ends up being next tax haven for this kind of stuff. It would actually align well with the current trend. I don't think that anyone who wants strong USD would want that, but it doesn't need to make sense to happen, if it benefits right people.