Binance reports about $6.3 billion stolen in crypto heist
Original title: Binance hit by $6.3 billion theft in what could be the biggest crypto heist on record
Binance will cover user losses, and close to $3 billion has already been frozen on-chain.
Binance said about $6.3 billion in cryptocurrency was stolen and that its initial investigation suggests a compromised DevOps engineer’s laptop let an attacker reach a service container and submit unauthorized withdrawals. The exchange reported no evidence of a wallet private-key leak and said losses will be covered from the SAFU fund and company funds. Close to $3 billion was frozen on-chain; deposits resumed, while withdrawals stay paused and are expected within 48 hours. TRM Labs and Chainalysis attribute the theft to North Korea’s TraderTraitor.
Unconfirmed: TraderTraitor attribution is a TRM and Chainalysis assessment; Binance has not confirmed the actor or finished its post-mortem.
- Circle said it froze more than 800 million USDC; Tether said more than 1.567 billion USDT.
- TRM counted about $6.36 billion leaving Binance wallets on ten blockchains.
- Issuer and partner freezes reached about $2.7 billion by early October 30.
- TRM says attackers still hold more than 420,000 ETH and 18,270 BTC, about $2.4 billion.
- On Ethereum, TRM says the attacker used 50 authorizations signed in advance.
Impact: About $6.3 billion in cryptocurrency stolen via unauthorized withdrawals
- 1.Exchanges should screen deposits against addresses TRM Labs tied to the theft.
- ATT&CK
- T1078 Valid Accounts
- Threat actors
- TraderTraitor
- Victims
- Binance
- Organizations
- TetherCircleTRM LabsChainalysis
- Countries
- North Korea
From the original article
3 min read at helpnetsecurity.com
About $6. 3 billion in cryptocurrency was stolen from Binance in what might be the biggest crypto hack in history. “Binance’s initial investigation suggests that the security incident may involve a compromised DevOps engineer’s laptop, which allowed an attacker to gain access to a service container and submit unauthorized withdrawal transactions,” the exchange said in a security update published early on October 30.
By Sinisa Markovic · helpnetsecurity.com
A short excerpt; the article and its images belong to the publisher. Summary, key facts and assessment above are AI-written from the article and can be wrong.