Hackers who stole a record $6.3bn (£4.7bn) from Binance used fake job interviews and a compromised internal AI tool, the firm has revealed.

Initial findings published by the company, which operates the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, said hackers gained access to its systems through "sophisticated, multi-stage campaign".

It said they used a range of techniques such as malicious software downloads to compromise the computers of Binance engineers and gain control over tools to drain its wallet of billions of dollars worth of crypto.

Binance called it a "serious and highly sophisticated security incident" and apologised, saying "this should not have happened".

"We apologise for the concern, disruption and uncertainty it caused our users, partners and the wider industry," it said.

The company added it had taken a range of steps following the incident, including working with law enforcement to trace and freeze affected assets.

It said it had also set aside more than 100% of the funds needed to cover the loss, noting 98% of the token assets impacted had been "replenished" as of Saturday.

The record $6.3bn (£4.7bn) attack is thought to be the largest crypto hack to date.

In a post on X, external detailing its initial findings into how the hack occurred, Binance said hackers targeted its engineers using social engineering techniques.

These see hackers use approaches such as phishing to trick people into parting with sensitive or personal details, that can then be used to try and access their accounts.

Binance said as part of the hack, one of its engineers was contacted through a legitimate job-hunting platform and invited to bogus job interviews with fake company representatives.

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