Using a job interview: How $6.3 billion was stolen from a crypto company

Binance reveals that hackers stole $6.3 billion using fake job interviews and malicious software. The FBI attributes the breach to North Korea; the company froze approximately $2.85 billion.

The world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, has revealed the details of a sophisticated hack that led to the theft of $6.3 billion. The hackers used a combination of malicious software, recruitment fraud, and fake job interviews to gain access to internal systems. The first vulnerability occurred last summer when an engineer at the company accidentally downloaded malware. Subsequently, the attackers contacted another engineer through a job search platform, offering him a position at a fictitious company. The engineer underwent a video interview with a fake HR representative, followed by a follow-up interview via a chat app with someone posing as the CEO of the fictitious company. During the interview, the engineer was convinced to download a malicious file to his computer. On October 20, the attackers used this access and an internal AI tool to take over the system. On October 29, the hackers activated a malicious script that led to the withdrawal of $6.34 billion. The company managed to freeze or intercept about $2.85 billion. The FBI attributes the hack to North Korea, but Pyongyang denies the allegations. Kim Yo-jong, the sister of leader Kim Jong-un, called the FBI's claims "absurd rhetoric" and a "serious political provocation."

Using a job interview: How $6.3 billion was stolen from a crypto company