Hackers impersonate job seekers to infiltrate crypto companies? A leading exchange exposes a new type of attack method

Question

【Crypto World】Security Alert Incoming. A senior executive from a leading compliant platform recently exposed a hacking incident—North Korean hackers are forging identities and infiltrating the recruitment processes of cryptocurrency companies, attempting to steal assets from within. Even more outrageous, they have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to bribe customer service staff, aiming to directly steal platform permissions and user information.

This approach is truly “social engineering” at its finest. In response to this wave of attacks, the exchange has already launched a strong defense—requiring employees to undergo fingerprint recognition, biometric verification, and multiple authentication methods. This is not only a countermeasure against hackers but also a wake-up call for the entire crypto industry: when assets become valuable enough, threats shift from technical to personnel levels.

Many industry practitioners, upon seeing this case, have stated that it serves as a reminder for all exchanges and wallet service providers to strengthen employee screening and internal security procedures. After all, firewalls can block malicious code, but they can’t resist the temptation of a check.

WhaleWatcher · Accepted Answer

North Korean hackers are truly clever; using money to bribe people is more ruthless than hacking codes...

Hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes, are exchange employees so lacking in resilience?

Firewalls are indeed useless; the biggest vulnerability is human nature.

Now all major exchanges should be panicking; insider threats are unstoppable.

Why not just give reliable people a raise to keep them instead of risking headhunting?

Peers should remind each other; the hiring process needs to be as strict as a police investigation.

Is having a lot of money enough to do whatever you want? This social engineering attack is outrageous.

Biometric recognition is good, but the key is to trust the people who are allowed in.

Where do the hackers get their money from? That’s also worth pondering.

LiquidationTherapist · Answer

Uh... hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes to employees? These days, people's hearts are really easier to crack than code.

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North Korea is really on a roll, going as far as infiltrating the recruitment process... I knew it, you can never fully defend against social engineering.

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Is biometric authentication useful? What if an employee is truly swayed... As long as the money is in place, everything is negotiable.

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Why is it always the recruitment department that has issues? Why are exchange HR people so easy to phish?

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"Firewalls can't stop checks"—that's a classic... It's very true.

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An exchange now has to implement biometric authentication. What does that say? It shows that our circle is really unsafe.

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It's North Korea again... These guys really treat cryptocurrency like an ATM.

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Daring to spend hundreds of thousands on bribes, they must have spent a lot of effort scouting beforehand... Terrifying.

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I just want to know how those employees who were bribed are doing now. They probably got arrested directly.

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So, insiders are more dangerous than external hackers. This was a textbook-level social engineering attack.

PumpDetector · Answer

ngl the real exploit here isn't the spear phishing... it's that they're throwing six figures at customer service reps. that's the part nobody talks about but everyone knows works. classic human layer vulnerability, been saying this since the gox days

ForkThisDAO · Answer

North Korean hackers are really ruthless this time, trying to buy off employees with just hundreds of thousands of dollars. Firewalls are indeed useless.

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Social engineering has reached this level, which shows that our money is really tempting.

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Even hundreds of thousands of dollars can't stop biometric authentication; hackers need to upgrade their methods.

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I've always said, the weakest link is always people, not code.

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Now it's settled, job interviews need to be as strict as customs checks, and job seekers must feel wronged.

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Firewalls block code but can't stop human nature—that's the point.

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Bribing customer service staff is really turning social engineering into an art form.

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Internal security procedures? Many exchanges probably don't take this seriously at all.

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Using all biometric methods like fingerprint recognition, how bad must the employee experience be?

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A check can fix the defense line—does that even count as a defense line?

TrustMeBro · Answer

Hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes to customer service, this hacker group really dares to spend money, feeling more ruthless than technical attacks.

Biometric systems are being implemented, requiring job seekers to scan their faces, but privacy and security are truly hard to balance.

Firewalls can't stop the temptation of checks; this saying hits home, indicating that no matter how high the salary, internal threats can't be fully prevented.

North Korean hackers play like this, the industry needs to thoroughly re-evaluate recruitment and internal audit processes.

I just want to know what happened to those employees who were bribed—were they directly fired or what?

Social engineering attacks are actually more terrifying than 0day exploits because humans are always the biggest vulnerability.

BearMarketBard · Answer

North Korean hackers are starting to use social engineering techniques. This industry really leaves no stone unturned.

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Hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on employees. How much money do you have to make to dare to play like this? Or are we earning too little?

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Firewalls can't block people's hearts, even if they block code. Truly insightful... Feels like this warning came a bit late.

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Damn, even the recruitment process can become a breakthrough point. Exchanges should reflect on this.

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Biometric verification is a powerful move, but I suspect some people still can't resist those hundreds of thousands of dollars.

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That's why I don't dare work at an exchange—being targeted by hackers every day must be exhausting.

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Wait, are North Korean hackers now so particular? Do they even impersonate job seekers?