Alleged data leak at Binance: Why the platform doubts the announcement

A database offered at $900,000. An account using the pseudonym “ShinyHunters” claims to hold nearly 336 million rows of data related to Binance. The platform indicates that its preliminary review revealed no evidence of a new intrusion into its systems or a compromise of its customers' data linked to this announcement. She continues her checks and considers that the offer looks like a scam.

The key points of this article

A seller claims 335.9 million rows. The number of distinct users represented in the file remains unknown.

The ad demands $900,000 in bitcoin or monero and threatens to publish the data.

Binance notes several inconsistencies, notably regarding passwords and private keys of external wallets.

The identity of the seller and the origin of the data remain to be established.

A sale under the name ShinyHunters

In an announcement published on October 31 on an underground forum, the seller claims that the file covers around 170 countries. He says he has email addresses, phone numbers, passwords, identification documents and transaction histories. It also claims information about Binance infrastructure and wallet private keys.

The account uses the name ShinyHunters, already associated with extortion operations. According to BleepingComputer, this could be a spoof. Posting a paid sample on the forum did not independently establish the origin of the file or the extent of the alleged leak.

Binance notes several inconsistencies in the announcement

Binance explains that it does not keep its customers' passwords in plain text and that it does not hold the private keys of their external wallets. The platform also notes that the announcement cites territories where it no longer operates.

It evokes a scenario already observed in similar sales: malware can collect identifiers directly from users' devices. The origin of the data offered in this file remains unknown.