North Korean hackers linked to Russia suspected in Binance crypto exchange hack

North Korean hackers, believed to be part of the Lazarus Group, may have been involved in the theft of over $6 billion from the Binance cryptocurrency exchange, according to TRM Labs and Chainalysis. The independent Russian outlet Agentstvo has suggested a potential link between the group and Russia, noting that Lazarus is "very active in the Russian Federation" and maintains access to Russian systems.

The hackers are thought to have infiltrated the exchange's system by hacking the laptop of one of its engineers, gaining access to additional points of breach. Binance has frozen about half of the stolen funds, with the exchange setting aside $6.34 billion of its own funds to reimburse customers. This attack is considered the largest cryptocurrency theft in history, surpassing the previous record of $1.5 billion stolen from the Bybit exchange.

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