Thousands of US companies have fallen victim to a cyber attack orchestrated by North Korean hackers, who exploited a vulnerability in the open-source software Axios. Security experts, including those from Mandiant, a cyber-intelligence firm owned by Google, confirmed that the hackers gained access to a software developer's account for three hours, allowing them to send malicious updates to organizations downloading the software. Axios is widely used across various sectors to manage websites, making this breach particularly concerning. Experts warn that this attack is part of a broader strategy to steal cryptocurrency, which funds North Korea's nuclear and missile programs. In 2022 alone, North Korean hackers were responsible for stealing $1.5 billion in cryptocurrency, marking one of the largest hacks on record. The long-term impact of this latest campaign is still being assessed, but it is expected to take months to fully understand the extent of the damage.