Professor says Binance heist exposes flaws in software systems

Hackers stole a record $6.3 billion from cryptocurrency exchange Binance, undermining confidence in the wider crypto market and highlighting the vulnerabilities found in software, Tallinn University of Technology cybersecurity professor Ahto Buldas told ERR.

Cryptocurrency prices fell sharply after the attack. Binance temporarily halted all withdrawals and said it would fully compensate customers for their losses. The exchange said users’ money was safe.

Preliminary information suggests the attack began with a laptop belonging to one engineer, which criminals used to access the company’s systems. They then carried out secret transactions worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

Binance is working with partners to recover the assets. The exchange has so far traced nearly $3 billion and is trying to freeze it. Analysts have identified North Korean state-backed groups as the main suspects.

The incident affected a large number of people: Binance has more than 335 million users worldwide. According to the company’s 2025 annual report, it managed assets worth about $162.8 billion. The platform allows users to buy, sell and trade digital assets, as well as hold deposits in traditional currencies such as dollars and euros.

Buldas said attacks on this scale are rare and require specialist knowledge. He compared the incident to a break-in at a bank, where money or other securities are stolen.

Crypto exchanges operate like other online services and are therefore exposed to security vulnerabilities, Buldas said. Software flaws are sometimes found and fixed quickly, but criminals may exploit some before they are patched. Even with strong defences, systems can retain weaknesses, and professional hackers are skilled at exploiting them. Buldas also noted that engineers do not always install security updates on their computers immediately.