alt Hacker NewsThe $6.3B Binance hack was pulled off in just 20 minutes
Comments
The heist itself only took 20 minutes, but the preparation is a business that has gone on for years. Much like a heist movie, the exciting bit is just the conclusion after a long build-up where Danny gets the gang together, plans it, and executes it.
Interesting, when the Cryptsy founder stole millions via laundering coins in Coinbase exchange, the government, FBI, and CIA did jack sh!t to recover the lost funds!
He is still in China living with his girlfriend.
Miami, Florida – A 17-count indictment was unsealed in federal court in Miami, Florida charging Paul E. Vernon, 48, the founder, operator, and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Project Investors Inc., doing business as Cryptsy
https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdfl/pr/ceo-major-online-crypto...
The short duration of this crypto hack isn't particularly noteworthy. Of course it takes time to find or design the exploit, but execution is typically very quick for such events
Reminds me of the time NK tried to steal 1bn from the new NY Federal Reserve Bank: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangladesh_Bank_robbery -- they only managed to steal 80mm due to human intervention from a single employee of pan asia bank
Something tells me that the timing of the Claude Code supply chain attack is not a coincidence ...
When seconds matter we'll patch our systems in days to weeks.
I wonder what the actual attack vectors here were. Was there actually a hack into binance systems, or was it just some insider or credential leak?
I'm stunned that they had that much cryptocoin online to be stolen. Why didn't they put it in "cold storage" and only some information in the database which says how much each customer had?
OTOH I heard that the culprits didn't steal the private keys of the affected customers. If this is true the stolen cryptocoins are worthless.
Lol, the title is so misleading. As more information is coming out, if the Cursor Claude extension really is the culprit here, these attack must have been in the works for god knows how long.
This level of targeting is really only something that nation state actors can pull off, who are also protected from actual law enforcement prosecution. Unless attackers are really in North Korea, they would 100% be caught within just few days.
Binance having an extra $6B to cover this is wild to me.
The funds were simply de-centralized. Seems by design?
How is it possible that Binance doesn't have a system that disallows massive simultaneous withdrawals without some kind of two-key manual override or something?
As a former crypto proponent, after ~17 years I think we have to have a real discussion about the value crypto does or doesn't bring to the world.
Sure, it let's some people keep their savings safe from dictatorial countries. But it also fuels other dictators that are doing pretty nasty stuff to their own people. And crypto is facilitating that.
After the HuggingFace incindent, these things keep on happeneing. Last week Railway and PHP faced these problems and now its Binance. The flood gates are now open.
AI heist ?
Most successful bank heists are in and out in less than five minutes. Or were anyway, there's a reason you don't hear about them these days.
Not quite the nanosecond buyout yet, but we're getting there.
Excellent, now make sure all of it gets into the 90 minute movie.
Funny that for all the hype around decentralisation and the libertarian ideals that surround crypto Binance, Circle etc were able to unilaterally freeze funds when it came down to their own self interest... I thought the code was the rules etc seems like the best player won here.
Crazy that most of this gets put into North Korean weapons programs.
haha.gif
Crypto is the canary.
Perhaps the culprit deserves to keep it all like all billionaires. Fair is fair.
[flagged]
[flagged]
[flagged]
[flagged]
[dead]
Good for them if it's the Norks. Wonderful to see the underdog come out on top every now and then.
> saying it will cover all losses from the hack and is working with law enforcement officials to identify who is responsible.
Isn't Binance the one that needs to be prosecuted for negligent security? How does "a compromised laptop" lead to a $6bn wipe in a matter of minutes?
This is why banks are regulated, though I have no idea if/whether these platforms are regulated in any similar way.