• North Korean Hackers Are Winning. Is the Crypto Industry Ready to Stop Them? - Ep. 789

  • Feb 25 2025
  • Length: 1 hr and 27 mins
  • Podcast

North Korean Hackers Are Winning. Is the Crypto Industry Ready to Stop Them? - Ep. 789

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  • Summary

  • $1.5 billion gone in an instant. And what’s worse, to fund a nuclear weapons program. The largest crypto hack in history just hit Bybit, and the culprit is the infamous North Korean hacking group, Lazarus. Known for some of the most sophisticated cyber heists ever, they often use social engineering tactics and start by tricking low level employees. Although they can often wait to launder funds, in the case of Bybit they started right away. How did this happen? Could it have been prevented? And what does this mean for the security of the entire crypto industry? Taylor Monahan, security at MetaMask, and Jonty, a senior investigator at zeroShadow, talk all about it. Show highlights: 2:53 Taylor’s and Jonty’s backgrounds and why they are relevant to this discussion 6:06 What the mechanics of the hack were 13:03 How Lazarus usually operates and the tactic of blind signing 17:11 Jonty’s important tips for people handling large amounts of crypto 23:45 How Bybit was able to say almost immediately that their other assets were secure 29:02 How much exchanges typically hold in each cold wallet 32:00 Why the evidence of the hack points to North Korean group Lazarus 41:01 Why North Korean hackers don’t care if their attack is linked to them 49:30 How Lazarus typically social engineers its hacks 53:48 Why Jonty thinks the industry needs a serious upgrade in terms of security 58:08 How the funds get laundered in such cases and what the industry can do 1:09:54 The chances Lazarus actually makes money from the hack 1:15:34 How DeFi protocols should approach this problem Visit our website for breaking news, analysis, op-eds, articles to learn about crypto, and much more: unchainedcrypto.com Thank you to our sponsors! Mantle Bitwise Guests: Taylor Monahan, Security at MetaMask Jonty, a senior investigator at zeroShadow Links Previous coverage on Unchained about North Korean hackers: How North Koreans Infiltrated the Crypto Industry to Fund the Regime Why North Korea Is Interested in Cryptocurrency Yeonmi Park on Why Doing Business With North Korea Is Like Buying a Ticket to a Concentration Camp GitHub - pcaversaccio/safe-tx-hashes-util: bash script that checks that the Safe transaction that you are signing is the one that you intend to sign Cointelegraph: Crypto exchange eXch denies laundering Bybit’s hacked funds Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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