10
Loading video...
By Jennifer Radcliffe
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
The FBI has accused North Korea of orchestrating the theft of more than $6 billion in virtual assets from cryptocurrency exchange Binance in what appears to be one of the largest publicly attributed cryptocurrency hacks to date.
In a cyber alert released Saturday, the bureau said the attack occurred on or about October 29.
The FBI said it worked alongside the U.S. Secret Service and IRS Criminal Investigation to investigate the theft and has observed the hackers converting stolen assets primarily into Ethereum. Authorities expect the funds to be moved through decentralized finance platforms and instant-swap services as part of a broader laundering effort.
Read More on News
"The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) was responsible for the theft of more than $6 billion USD in virtual assets from cryptocurrency exchange Binance," the FBI said in its statement.
Newsweek reached out to the FBI, Binance's CEO and North Korea's mission to the United Nations for comment on Saturday.
Calls to Block Addresses Linked to 'TraderTraitor' Campaign
The bureau urged cryptocurrency companies, blockchain analytics firms, decentralized finance services, exchange operators and node operators to block transactions linked to a list of cryptocurrency addresses allegedly controlled by the North Korean actors.
According to the FBI, the activity is part of an ongoing North Korean cyber campaign known as "TraderTraitor," which U.S. authorities have previously linked to high-value cryptocurrency thefts intended to generate revenue for the isolated regime.
The announcement underscores growing concerns among U.S. officials over North Korea's reliance on cybercrime and digital asset theft to evade international sanctions and obtain foreign currency. It comes as North Korea remains one of the world's most prolific state-sponsored cryptocurrency thieves, with U.S. agencies repeatedly warning that stolen digital assets have become a major source of funding for the country's weapons and military programs.
The FBI said anyone with information related to the theft or laundering of the stolen assets should contact a local FBI field office or submit information through the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3).
Binance Investigates Compromised Engineer's Laptop
Kathryn Westmore, the director of financial crime at UK Finance, told Newsweek on Friday that she believed North Korea was behind the heist.
“TraderTraitors [is] believed to be a state-sponsored North Korean hacking group who have carried out other hacks on other platforms, although not at the scale of the Binance hack," she said.
Westmore said that although the hackers attacked Binance, users’ own security on their personal devices would have played a part in whether their wallets were targeted.
Responding to the attack, Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, said its initial investigations of the “security incident” indicated that the laptop of a software engineer at the company may have been compromised, which allowed hackers into the platform’s systems and ultimately to green-light withdrawals.
Binance was hit with a crypto heist in 2022, when a hacker artificially created 2 million BNB tokens, amounting to around $570 million. Although the platform stepped in, the attacker was still able to take over $100 million.
Related Story
World’s Biggest Crypto Exchange Hit by Record $6.3 Billion Hack
...
How the Heist Went Down
Blockchain company TRM Labs believes the attack took around 36 hours to prepare, when the main operator got “three small withdrawals from Tornado Cash, a service that obscures where crypto comes from..."
Hackers then launched the attack, using code to target two wallets. The group tested the code on a third wallet before funneling the money back to their accounts.
Four hours later, the hack began.
In just four minutes, between 8:05 p.m. and 8:09 p.m., five Binance hot wallets sent 233.46 million XRP to one of the hackers’ addresses. Each wallet was left with only its minimum balance.
One minute later, Binance wallets on Optimism and Solana were hit. At 8:20 p.m., a Binance Bitcoin hot wallet was taken over. The hackers sent themselves 18,270 BTC and split them into 1,000 BTC and 100 BTC pieces, a technique known as creating a "peel chain" that obscures the journey of funds. Finally, the attackers sent themselves 612.7 million USDT and 46.4 million TRX from a Binance hot wallet on Tron.
What Binance Users Should Do After Crypto Hack
Westmore told Newsweek that “it's highly likely that we're going to see a wave of fraudsters contacting potential victims and asking for payment to help them get their money back (which they can't do)."
She added: "Based on the statements from Binance, their money should be safe. However, we don't know what, if any, personal data may have been breached, so people should monitor for any signs that their personal data is being used by criminals or has been sold.”
Binance has said it will cover the costs of the massive hack.
Contact Newsweek editors for this story: Anthony Murray and Jennifer Radcliffe.
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines