A security breach accounted for about 6.3 billion in client assets, a massive unauthorized transfer into the hackers’ wallets. A DevOps engineer’s laptop was hacked, letting the criminals access a service container and make illegal transactions. Richard Teng, CEO of Binance, noted that it was a layered attack with multiple steps rather than a quick one-click process.
Binance carried out a number of steps to secure the funds and protect clients’ assets. It managed to freeze half of the stolen funds in blockchain networks with crypto partner firms like Circle and Tether. Tether reportedly froze $1.5 billion, and Circle froze $800 million associated with the incident. Apparently, none of the private keys controlling Binance wallets were leaked. According to Richard Teng, “It’s becoming harder” to investigate because the hackers had a system installed to erase all traces of their activity. There was more than one person involved, and the $6.3 billion transfer was made in about 20 minutes.
Crypto exchange hacks aren’t exactly rare. That is why Binance has maintained SAFU, an emergency fund of $1 billion, designed to restore customer funds in case of a security breach. It has also temporarily restricted withdrawals and deposits while the company coordinates with legal authorities. Binance is working with the FBI to track and bring the criminals to justice.
But why associate the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea—North Korea—with it? North Korea’s Lazarus Group and state-sponsored cybercrime unit TraderTraitor are linked to financial thefts and blockchain cyberattacks.
