Why are North Korean hackers such good crypto-thieves?

They recently pulled off the world’s biggest cyber-heist

FEBRUARY 21st was a typical day, recalls Ben Zhou, the boss of ByBit, a Dubai-based cryptocurrency exchange. Before going to bed, he approved a fund transfer between the firm’s accounts, a “typical manoeuvre” performed while servicing more than 60m users around the world. Half an hour later he got a phone call. “Ben, there’s an issue,” his chief financial officer said, voice shaking. “We might be hacked…all of the Ethereum is gone.”

This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “Hermit hackers”

From the March 22nd 2025 edition

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