Binance says hackers stole $6.3B using fake job interviews and AI tool

In short: Binance says North Korea-linked hackers stole $6.3 billion in cryptocurrency after tricking employees with fake recruiting and abusing an internal AI tool.

What happened

Binance said a months-long hacking campaign led to the theft of about $6.3 billion in cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrency is digital money that is stored and moved using online wallets (like a bank account number and password, but for crypto). Binance said the FBI also blamed North Korea-linked hackers, and North Korea denied the claim.

According to Binance, the campaign started in June when an engineer downloaded a tampered version of an AI tool. In September, another engineer was contacted with a fake job offer and was persuaded to download a malicious coding assignment on a work computer. This is similar to a thief posing as a recruiter to get someone to open a harmful file.

Binance said the attackers then used the compromised devices and an internal AI tool to reach the systems used by wallet engineers. Wallet engineers work on the software that helps store and move crypto funds. Binance said the hackers used stolen login details and a malicious script (a small program that runs instructions automatically) to move funds on Oct. 29.

Binance said it will cover customer losses and has frozen about $2.85 billion in assets linked to the theft. It also said it plans to increase AI-based threat detection and bring in independent cybersecurity experts to review what happened.

Why it matters

This incident is a reminder that scams can start with something as ordinary as a job interview and a file download. When attackers get inside a company through an employee device, they can sometimes reach systems that control customer funds.

Source: NYTimes