Binance, crypto and hacks: What to know about keeping coin safe as cyber criminals advance

Binance was hit by a sophisticated cyberattack on October 29, resulting in a theft of $6.3 billion in assets. According to CNBC, this event is the largest crypto theft ever recorded. The Daily Times reported the breach unfolded in approximately 20 minutes and described it as the largest financial heist in history. While analysts cited in reports from Dawn, Dawn Business, and Daily Times blamed North Korea for the attack, Daily Times noted that blockchain intelligence firms TRM Labs and Chainalysis identified North Korea’s elite hacking unit, TraderTraitor, as the primary suspect.

Binance halted withdrawals following the attack and stated it would use company funds to cover the losses. Co-CEO Richard Teng indicated on X that the complex attack may have originated from a compromised software engineer’s laptop, providing hackers access to withdrawal processing systems. The company later discovered additional breaches, and investigations were hampered by software designed to erase traces of the attack.

Although The Hindu - Sci-Tech reported that Binance assured users their funds were safe on October 30, Dawn and Dawn Business noted that the company halted withdrawals.

In response to the breach, crypto exchanges are taking steps to strengthen defenses. Coinbase stated it made adjustments to its offline cryptocurrency key storage systems out of an abundance of caution, while Kraken reported it is monitoring industry incidents to apply lessons to its own defenses. Chris Perkins, head of crypto at Franklin Templeton, stated that the security situation must be addressed immediately for crypto to reach its full potential.

Brief written by urgent.news from CNBC, Dawn, Dawn Business, The Hindu - Sci-Tech, Daily Times — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.