A job interview, a programming assignment, and a company that didn't exist. That's all it took to pave the way for one of the biggest heists in cryptocurrency history.
Binance revealed on November 3 that the $6.3 billion attack that occurred on October 29 had been months in the making. In September, an engineer was approached through a legitimate job board. After interviewing people posing as company executives, he downloaded a programming assignment that contained malware.
The hackers then used an internal artificial intelligence tool to break into the systems of their colleagues. The FBI attributed the attack to a group linked to North Korea, while Pyongyang denies involvement.
The stock exchange that held billions of dollars in digital assets was penetrated through one of the most common labor market rituals: the interview for a better job.
Source: Reuters, November 3, 2026
