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Security·1 min read

Binance security chief described the $6.3B hack tactic in July

Months before Binance's record $6.3B hack, its security chief Jimmy Su explained in an interview how a fake coding test can compromise an employee's device.

A laptop screen showing a coding test window with a red security warning overlay, next to the Binance logo.
Image: Cointelegraph
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Months before the Binance hack, the exchange's own security chief described the trick that was later used against it. In a July interview, Binance chief security officer Jimmy Su explained how fake coding assessments can compromise an employee's device.

The attack that followed is described as the largest in the exchange's history, with a record $6.3 billion at stake. According to the reporting, the tactic used was the one Su had laid out earlier in the year.

How does a fake coding test hack work?

The idea is simple and a bit nasty. Someone is asked to complete a coding assessment, the sort of task that is routine in a hiring process. The test is fake, and doing it puts the device of the person taking it at risk. Su's point in July was that this kind of assessment can be used to get into an employee's machine.

That is what makes it awkward. Nobody has to break through a firewall. The target opens the task willingly, because it looks like part of normal work.

What we know and what we don't

The material available so far does not spell out how the attack played out inside Binance, which employee was affected, or how the $6.3 billion figure breaks down. Those details are not confirmed here, so they are left out.

What is clear is the sequence: a public warning from the person in charge of security, then an attack using the same method. For anyone who works in tech or crypto, the practical lesson is plain. A coding test from an unknown source deserves the same suspicion as an unexpected attachment, especially when it runs on a work device.

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Tags:binancejimmy sucrypto hackfake coding testsexchange security

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