Binance says hackers who stole billions in crypto spent months planning heist
Techniques included laptop infections, compromised internal tooling, and fake job interviews.
Techniques included laptop infections, compromised internal tooling, and fake job interviews.
The short version
- The hackers who stole billions of dollars in cryptocurrency from the Binance exchange spent months working on the theft and used both social engineering and novel malware in the process, the company said Tuesday.
- The heist, which both the FBI and the TRM Security firm attributed to North Korean actors, initially targeted $6.34 billion in cryptocurrency from Binance wallets.
- The exchange has since frozen or intercepted $2.85 billion of that sum.
What happened
Binance said it has set aside funds required to cover the loss and provided this link to a Proof of Reserves page. The $6.34 billion represents the biggest sum ever targeted in a cryptocurrency theft.
Why it matters
Binance said the people behind the heist began no later than June and continued until last Thursday, when they successfully compromised an engineer’s laptop and withdrew assets from several wallets.
Summary by Nerd News Network. Read the full article at Ars Technica via the links above and below.