The record Binance theft started with a fake Homebrew installer on a Mac

[OmegaEvan51]

A huge crypto theft has a lesson for anyone who installs software on a work computer. 9to5Mac reports in its weekly security column that the record $6.3 billion theft from Binance began with a fake Homebrew installer

About $6.3 billion was stolen, and Binance froze nearly $3 billion. According to the column, a wallet engineer downloaded a fake Homebrew installer found through a search engine in June, and a second engineer was hit by a fake job interview coding test in September

The link to the Mac comes from the author's reading of how the malware targeted the folder where Homebrew installs software. Claims about which group was behind the attack are speculation

The column, which is sponsored by a Mac management company, draws two clear lessons. Be wary of installers found through search results, and never run interview assignments on a work machine

Fake download pages that look like the real thing are a common trick, and developers are prime targets because their machines often hold valuable access. Typing the official address yourself, or using a bookmark, is a simple habit that avoids most of these traps. Keeping work and personal tasks on separate machines helps too

How do you make sure you are downloading software from the real site? And would you run a coding test from a job interview on your work computer?

Security Bite: The record $6.3B Binance heist started with a fake Homebrew install on Mac - 9to5Mac9to5mac.com

[Ridge66]

Freezing nearly half the stolen funds is impressive work. Exchanges have got better at tracking money. Still, billions are gone. Recovery is rarely complete