In brief
Binance confirmed that a cyberattack stole roughly US$6.34 billion in digital assets, using fake job interviews and its internal AI tool. The FBI identified the attacks as the work of a North Korean hacker group called TraderTraitor, a claim that North Korean officials have rejected as political provocation. U.S. officials say the incident highlights the global threat of cybercrime tied to the country’s weapon programs.
Binance announced on Tuesday that a multi‑stage cyberattack stole about US$6.34 billion in digital assets, using fake job interviews and its own internal AI system.
The exchange said a fake recruiter on a job platform ran video interviews and sent a malicious software repository unseen by endpoint tools. On Oct. 20, an attacker used an internal AI tool as a springboard to reach a container deployment token and then launched a container that triggered the theft.
The FBI has linked the incident to a North Korean hacking group it calls TraderTraitor, a name previously tied to other cryptocurrency thefts.
North Korea denied the accusation.
“It is a grave political provocation against Pyongyang,” Kim Yo‑jong, a senior North Korean official, said.The statement was delivered on Tuesday (Korean time). Kim’s comment was a direct response to the FBI’s findings.
A U.S. State Department spokesman warned that “the issue of DPRK cybercrime is a global problem that touches companies and jurisdictions around the world, including the United States.”
Binance said it had blocked 57 suspected threats linked to North Korea this year and noted that the heist, which began as early as June, was completed in about 30 minutes.
The case underscores the growing risk of cybercrime used to finance weapons programs and the need for stronger security measures across the crypto industry.
