A substantial cryptocurrency theft amounting to $1.19 billion has been attributed to cyber criminals from North Korea, marking what has been described as one of the largest hacks in history.

The Dubai-based cryptocurrency exchange Bybit confirmed the heist, during which hackers gained control of an Ethereum wallet, facilitating the removal of its entire £1 billion contents.

The hackers subsequently transferred the assets to an unidentified location.

Bybit's CEO, Ben Zhou, characterized the incident on social media platform X as 'the worst hack in history,' assuring users that the exchange remains solvent even if the lost funds are not recovered, and that client assets are fully backed on a one-to-one basis.

Following the attack, the exchange reported over 350,000 withdrawal requests, all of which have since been processed.

The Lazarus Group, a hacking collective believed to operate on behalf of the North Korean government, is suspected to be behind this cyberattack.

Blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence claimed to have obtained evidence linking the group to the incident, although official confirmations of the culprits have not been released.

Bybit has reported the incident to law enforcement and indicated that they are collaborating with on-chain analytics providers to investigate the implicated addresses.

Founded in 2018, Bybit has grown significantly, handling various cryptocurrencies and accumulating approximately £15 billion in assets.

Despite the impact of the hack, Ethereum's market value fell by four percent toward the end of the previous week, reflecting the event's influence on the broader crypto market.

North Korea's involvement in significant cybercrimes is not unprecedented.

In 2024, hackers associated with the regime were reportedly responsible for stealing approximately $800 million in a related incident, while a 2022 intelligence report suggested that North Korean digital criminals absconded with around $1.7 billion.

In the aftermath of the heist, cybersecurity agencies from the UK and South Korea issued a joint advisory urging organizations to strengthen their cybersecurity measures to mitigate the risk of future breaches.

The UK's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), part of GCHQ, along with the South Korean National Intelligence Service (NIS), noted that cybercriminals are increasingly exploiting previously undiscovered vulnerabilities in third-party software within supply chains to access organizational systems.

The advisory highlighted concerns that such supply chain attacks could facilitate broader compromises, leading to increased disruption and ransomware deployment.