India, Feb. 28 -- Cryptocurrency researchers and analysts expressed alarm after North Korean hackers from the Lazarus Group managed to steal almost $1.5 billion from crypto exchange Bybit last Friday.

The attack was the biggest ever by margin and managed to bypass a security mechanism considered the safest yet by the industry. Shares of Ether, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies slumped after the attack, as did shares of Coinbase Inc., the biggest listed exchange, Bloomberg reported.

The group, which the US FBI believes to have the backing of the North Korea's Kim Jong-Un regime, attacked the so-called "cold" crypto storage wallet, which was considered to be almost impervious to cyber-attacks. The wallet, which is mostly kept isolated fr...