A new report suggests that Binance is failing to prevent ransomware hackers from converting their stolen bitcoin into cash.
According to an exclusive report published by Forbes, cybercriminals leveraging crypto-ransomware, including the popular Ryuk variant, have been using Binance to exchange their stolen funds.
A group researchers, who asked to remain anonymous, told Forbes that over $1 million in bitcoin from several addresses connected to Ryuk ransomware attacks had been transferred to a Binance exchange wallet over the last three years. The researchers claimed the wallet was still active as of this month.
The group told Forbes,
Out of the 63 sampled transactions worth around $5,700,000, it was found that over $1 million was sent from the hacking team wallets to the Binance exchange platform to cash out their ransom payments.
The report continues,
Thirteen other bitcoin addresses associated with Ryuk, containing a total of $1,064,865, followed a similar pattern. All were sent from the hackers’ wallets to several other addresses, and eventually to Binance, enabling them to cash out their ransom payments.
The remaining $4.7 million in bitcoin traced by the researchers is currently being held in various off-exchange addresses, suggesting “Binance is the cyber criminals’ exchange of choice.”
Binance replied to the allegations, saying it was the exchange’s top priority to “ensure the safety our customers and the integrity of the crypto space.”
Binance pointed out a number of “security features” they had in place the identify illicit activities, but said the tracking of funds was not always “black and white,” particularly given the wide variety of customers operating on their platform.
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