Binance says hackers plotted US$6.3 billion heist for months

Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, announced on Tuesday (Nov 3) that hackers planned the US$6.3 billion heist for months, employing various tactics to infiltrate the company's systems. The attackers began by impersonating a project director and contacting a Binance software engineer through a job-hunting platform in September.

After two interviews, they provided the engineer with a malicious file containing code that evaded Binance's security tools. On October 20, the hackers then used this compromised computer to gain control over the workstations of two wallet team engineers, who had permission to deploy software. Nine days later, they exploited this access to infiltrate a service responsible for signing transactions, subsequently draining Binance's hot wallets over a four-hour period.

This is the most extensive theft in crypto history and marks another setback for Binance, which has faced numerous legal issues, including a 2023 guilty plea and a US$4.3 billion penalty for violating anti-money-laundering laws. The exchange's founder, Changpeng Zhao, served four months in prison and received a presidential pardon.

The FBI has identified the hackers as North Korea's TraderTraitor unit, a claim North Korea denies. Despite the attack, Binance assured customers that it would cover losses and had already restored 98 percent of the affected tokens. The exchange also pledged to rebuild the hacked systems, replace compromised computers, and seek external security firms to conduct a comprehensive review of the attack.

Binance plans to establish a security research fund and collaborate with AI companies to enhance protection against future cyber threats.