SignTrail, built after studying North Korean heists, verifies a transaction’s execution environment before it is signed
SignTrail, an anti-hacking tool from Korea University spinout ANAM145, won the CES 2027 Best of Innovation award for cybersecurity. Built after studying North Korea-linked heists such as the $1.5 billion Bybit theft, it checks how a transaction request was created before it is signed.
CES 2027 Best of Innovation emblem. Image: CTASignTrail, an anti-hacking product from Korean cybersecurity startup ANAM145, has been named a CES 2027 Best of Innovation honoree in the cybersecurity category, the company said Nov. 10. Best of Innovation is the top tier of the Consumer Technology Association’s CES Innovation Awards, given to the highest-scoring entries in each category. The CES 2026 awards drew more than 3,600 entries across 36 categories.SignTrail targets theft disguised as legitimate transactions. Rather than only protecting the private keys used to move assets, it verifies the “execution environment” — the software and process that generated the transaction request the key is about to sign.SignTrail, ANAM145’s CES 2027 Best of Innovation winner, in operation. Image: ANAM145Lessons from the $1.5 billion Bybit heistThe trigger was the February 2025 theft of about $1.5 billion from crypto exchange Bybit, which the FBI attributed to the North Korea-linked group TraderTraitor. The attackers compromised the wallet software used to approve transactions, so staff signed malicious transfers they believed were routine.ANAM145 built SignTrail by studying the methods of North Korea-linked groups. Because digital-asset transfers are hard to reverse, the tool checks how a request was created and processed before any funds move, holds or blocks requests that fail verification before they are signed, and logs results. It works alongside existing key-custody and signing systems. Target customers are banks, crypto exchanges and custodians.Founded in 2023 by Korea University cyber-defense researchersANAM145 was founded in 2023 by faculty and researchers from Korea University’s Department of Cyber Defense — created with the Ministry of National Defense to train cyberwarfare officers — and its Graduate School of Cybersecurity. It applies that research to protecting private-sector finance and digital assets.ANAM145 co-founders Lee Joong-hee, a Korea University professor (right), and Shim Jun-sik. Photo: ANAM145Co-CEO Lee Joong-hee, who leads core technology, is a professor and associate dean at the Graduate School of Cybersecurity; he holds degrees from Seoul National University and a Ph.D. from Georgia Tech, and was an assistant professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Co-CEO Shim Jun-sik, a U.S. CPA, advised on digital-finance strategy and internal controls at a global accounting and consulting firm.The company was selected for Korea’s Deep Tech TIPS startup program, is taking part in a UNDP SDG Blockchain Accelerator pilot to digitize payments in Liberia, and is developing ControlRail, a stablecoin-based payments infrastructure.Demos at the Korea University pavilion in JanuaryA 10-person team including both co-CEOs will demonstrate SignTrail at Korea University’s pavilion at CES 2027 in Las Vegas on Jan. 6–9 and meet overseas financial institutions about deployments. ANAM145 also exhibited at the university’s CES 2025 pavilion.
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