North Korean Hackers Behind $6.3 Billion Binance Theft May Have Used AI

The North Korean hacking group the FBI blames for the $6.3 billion theft from Binance may have used AI to pick and attack its target, Bloomberg News reported on Monday, according to PYMNTS. It is the largest cryptocurrency theft on record.

Experts told Bloomberg the group, known as TraderTraitor, has about a dozen members and practises "big game hunting," going after crypto companies rather than individual investors. Analysts at TRM Labs said new techniques in its recent hacks indicate it has turned to AI. "The barriers to such skills have dropped significantly, while the speed at which these operations can be carried out has increased tremendously," said Park Seong-su, a threat researcher at Zscaler.

Blockchain analytics firm Elliptic said the laundering is "clearly automated": in under four days the funds moved through about 12,000 wallets across 11 blockchains and more than 40,000 transactions, roughly one new wallet every 25 seconds. The group's previous record was the $1.5 billion theft from Bybit last year.