North Korea linked to $11b hack on world's biggest crypto exchange

A US blockchain intelligence firm says a North Korean unit was likely behind the hack that hit Binance, the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange, impacting more than US$6 billion (NZ$11 billion). Binance said it worked with blockchain partners to freeze about US$3 billion in affected assets and began recovering funds for users, adding that deposits were unaffected while withdrawals were suspended and expected to resume in the next day or two. The company said it would cover all losses. Binance’s initial investigation pointed to a compromised laptop, but a later review found additional “points of breach.” TRM Labs attributed the attack to TraderTraitor, described as North Korea’s elite hacking unit, saying an attacker moved about US$6.36 billion out of Binance wallets on ten blockchains in roughly 20 minutes. The FBI and other analysts also linked the incident to North Korea.