In brief
Binance says it has lost about $6.3 billion after a security incident that started on Oct. 29, in which an attacker used a compromised DevOps engineer’s laptop to submit unauthorized withdrawals. The exchange has frozen about $3 billion of assets while investigators continue to probe the event. Bitcoin fell 3.2% after news of the breach reached the market.
Binance announced that it has suffered a security incident that has cost the exchange approximately $6.3 billion. The breach, which began on Oct. 29, reportedly involved a compromised laptop belonging to a DevOps engineer, allowing an attacker to submit unauthorized withdrawal transactions, the exchange said, citing its initial investigation.
According to a report from TASS, the hacker was able to gain access to a service container and drain assets before the breach was detected. Binance has frozen roughly $3 billion of affected assets in an effort to prevent further loss.
PCMag reported eight hours ago that the hack may have been carried out through the compromised laptop, a claim that Binance has confirmed. The news came as Binance was conducting an active investigation into the security issue.
In the wake of the incident, Bitcoin dropped 3.2% to just under $79,000, according to the Independent, as traders reacted to the scale of the breach and the velocity of the losses.
Binance’s managing authorities said they are aware of reports about a possible security issue and that specialists are working on the investigation. No direct statement from a Binance executive was included in the latest release.
Analysts note that the company’s action to freeze assets is a standard response to a suspected breach, but overall confidence in Binance’s security posture has been shaken to some degree. The exchange’s future plans to mitigate similar incidents are yet to be disclosed.
