Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, was the victim of a massive heist in late October. Approximately US$6.36 billion (£4.74 billion) of funds were stolen within the space of 20 minutes in an attack that has been described as the largest of its kind in history.

The source of the attack has not yet been officially confirmed. But the FBI and blockchain analytics company TRM Labs identified North Korea’s TraderTraitor hacking unit as the group most likely to have been behind it. Two other blockchain analytics firms, Chainalysis and Elliptic, have supported this attribution.

This is not the first time North Korea has been linked to cyber-attacks. Several other cryptocurrency exchange thefts in recent years have been attributed to North Korean state-sponsored hackers. These include the 2019 Upbit and 2025 Bybit hacks, where funds worth US$42 million and US$1.5 billion respectively were stolen.

Therefore, while Pyongyang has always denied any involvement in state-sponsored cyber warfare, it is not surprising that North Korea has once again been mentioned in connection with a major crypto heist.

State-sponsored hacking

North Korea’s cyber operations are the product of decades of strategic development. The North Korean state began building the technological foundations for these operations in the 1980s, establishing domestic computing infrastructure, specialised educational institutions and state-led research centres.

The development of its cyber capabilities intensified in the 1990s. The Korea........

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