Binance hit by largest-ever crypto theft, with $6.3 billion stolen

In this article Attackers stole $6.3 billion from the Binance cryptocurrency exchange Binance says user funds are safe, but watch out for fake support or recovery offers from scammers Users should check their accounts and use official Binance channels. Binance says a security incident affected approximately $6.3 billion in cryptocurrency. Its initial investigation points to a compromised DevOps engineer’s laptop as a possible entry point. The exchange says it has frozen around $3 billion with help from blockchain partners. It has promised to cover all losses using its emergency fund and company funds. Binance is reportedly the largest cryptocurrency exchange by daily trading volume. What happened? In an update on October 30, Binance said attackers may have used a compromised laptop belonging to a DevOps engineer to access a service container and submit unauthorized withdrawal transactions. The company said: “We have found no evidence of any wallet private key leak.” This doesn’t mean that one employee could simply transfer billions of dollars. Binance co-CEO Richard Teng told BleepingComputer the attacker did not simply use one engineer’s permissions. The incident involved a more complex process, rather than a single “one-click” action. Binance also said investigators had identified additional breach points. Blockchain intelligence firms TRM Labs and Chainalysis have linked the theft to TraderTraitor, a North Korean hacking group associated with previous cryptocurrency thefts. TRM Labs estimates that about $6.36 billion left Binance wallets across ten blockchains, with most of it moving within about 20 minutes. What should Binance users do? Binance says approximately $3 billion has been frozen on-chain, while blockchain analysts have reported somewhat different totals. For now, those figures should be treated as developing estimates rather than a final accounting of recovered funds or the exchange’s ultimate losses. Binance.com users ( Binance.US was not affected) should check their accounts, avoid follow-up scams, and respond quickly if they spot signs of a separate compromise. Go directly to official updates. Open the Binance app or navigate to its support site yourself. Avoid logging in through unexpected messages claiming that you must urgently verify your account or claim compensation. Binance has asked customers to rely on official channels. Review your account and report anything unexpected. Check your transaction history and account security settings. If you find activity you do not recognize, contact Binance through its official support service . Binance’s support center includes options to disable an account and reset a password or two-factor authentication. Never give anyone your authentication codes. Treat requests for login codes as a warning sign, even if the person claims to be helping with the incident. Be wary of anyone promising to recover cryptocurrency. The FBI published a warning in 2023 that fake recovery services target people who have already lost cryptocurrency. Preserve evidence if you lose money to a related scam. Keep messages, wallet addresses, transaction details, and information about anyone offering recovery services. Pro tip: Unsure whether a message is a scam? Check it with Malwarebytes’ Scam Guard for an assessment and advice on what to do next. Unsure where a link goes? We’ll check it. About the author Was a Microsoft MVP in consumer security for 12 years running. Can speak four languages. Smells of rich mahogany and leather-bound books.