US authorities freeze billions in stolen Binance crypto after massive North Korean hack - Fox Business
US authorities and private partners have frozen more than $2.7 billion in cryptocurrency stolen during a massive North Korean cyberattack on Binance, with the exchange covering all affected assets.
The Justice Department announced Thursday that frozen funds were part of more than $6 billion in digital assets stolen from Binance on or around Oct. 29, described as one of the largest cryptocurrency thefts on record. Federal officials have obtained court authorization to seize or restrain an additional $1.2 billion of those assets.
Exchange response
Binance separately announced it had completed covering all assets affected by the security incident, which had an estimated total impact of approximately $6.3 billion. The exchange published an updated Proof of Reserves snapshot to demonstrate its financial position.
To our users and community: thank you for your patience and understanding.
Investigation details
Federal investigators attributed the theft to North Korean military hackers operating under the name "TraderTraitor." The hackers have continued attempting to move stolen funds through cryptocurrency exchanges, bridges and mixing services designed to obscure the movement of digital assets.
Binance co-CEO Richard Teng previously told FOX Business that the company had closed the entry points exploited by the hackers and rebuilt affected systems. The attack began with a fraudulent job interview that compromised an employee's computer before hackers exploited internal systems.
By springing into action at a moment's notice, we worked together to freeze this massive criminal fraud in its tracks.
Related operations
The Justice Department separately announced investigators had disrupted a North Korean hacking operation known as "FaceStealer," linked to more than $400 million in cryptocurrency thefts over the past 18 months. Using deceptive video calls, secretly recorded webcam footage and AI-generated deepfakes, the operation tricked victims into installing malicious software.
The FBI said hackers impersonated trusted contacts during video meetings before presenting victims with fake technical problems that required clicking malicious links. Authorities seized more than 900 webcam videos of victims as part of the operation.
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