Overview
- On Oct. 10, Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao posted a Google alert on X about a suspected state-backed effort to access his account.
- Zhao speculated that North Korea–linked Lazarus could be involved and downplayed the risk by noting the account held nothing important.
- The alert referenced an attempt to steal his password and, per Google’s security guidance, indicates elevated targeting rather than a confirmed compromise.
- Community voices urged immediate safeguards, including changing passwords, enabling two-factor authentication, and auditing devices signed in to the account.
- The episode comes after warnings about Lazarus using phishing and fake hiring pipelines to infiltrate crypto firms, with researchers linking the group to major 2025 heists including the record Bybit theft.