2026-01-22 11:00:49

A serious cyber threat incident has recently been exposed in the security community. A North Korea-linked hacker group, PurpleBravo, targeted AI, cryptocurrency, and financial companies, launching cyber espionage activities against over 3,100 IP addresses through carefully crafted fake job interviews.

Their tactics are quite cunning. The hackers disguise themselves as HR or recruitment personnel, luring job seekers with fake job postings. Once the candidates bite, they are induced to download seemingly legitimate developer tools or code repositories—such as a VS Code editor with a backdoor. These tools secretly contain malware, which, once successfully implanted, can enable long-term espionage on the targeted companies.

According to tracking data from security research organizations, this wave of attacks has affected multiple countries and regions worldwide. Cryptocurrency exchanges, DeFi platforms, and traditional financial institutions are all within the scope of the targeting. Companies actively recruiting technical talent are especially vulnerable.

For those engaged in Web3 and the financial industry, this is a necessary reminder: be particularly cautious during job hunting seasons and campus recruitment periods. Avoid downloading unknown developer tools or code packages from unverified sources. Corporate IT and HR departments should also strengthen security reviews of recruitment processes to prevent such social engineering attacks from infiltrating internal networks.

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PumpBeforeRug

· 8h ago

It's those North Korean folks again... Honestly, this kind of social engineering method is the most damaging to the crypto community. We're severely short of people here. --- Would you believe VS Code dares to install a backdoor version? That’s incredibly careless. Luckily, I never click on unfamiliar links. --- Damn, among these 3100 IPs, could some familiar project have been phished... This wave might cause trouble for crypto exchanges. --- Recruitment season is the most dangerous. Remember everyone, all HR messages on LinkedIn must be screened thoroughly. --- DeFi projects are even more dangerous. Just one core dev gets phished, and the tokens on the chain could be lost. Be cautious, brothers. --- How did this attack scale so large before being exposed... It shows someone has already fallen victim. Kinda scary. --- The problem is, how do we verify HR identities? Besides verifying on the company's official website, there doesn’t seem to be a better way.

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Tokenomics911

· 8h ago

Whoa, this move is really awesome. Fake recruitment phishing? Even HR has fallen for it. --- 3,100 IPs have been targeted. This time, exchanges and DeFi better get ready. --- Backdoor VS Code is truly outrageous. No wonder many people in the group have been asking where to download tools recently. --- When job hunting, you really need to be cautious, especially at this time. Don't fall for fake offers. --- North Korea's recent actions are really ruthless. Targeting finance and crypto directly hits the big points. --- Honestly, is the HR department's defense so weak? How can this be a vulnerability? --- Another social engineering attack? I'm exhausted. It's hard to defend against everything, brothers. --- That's why I always say you must download development tools from official channels. Take my advice, everyone. --- Why are fintech companies still able to recruit on a large scale without strengthening security reviews? --- The VS Code backdoor joke is really harsh. So many developers have fallen for it.

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ColdWalletAnxiety

· 8h ago

Damn, VS Code can even be turned into a backdoor? Our industry is really tough. --- North Korea is still playing this trick, social engineering is still the same old story. --- Wait, over 3,000 IPs? It seems like all my friends need to do some checks. --- No wonder so many people have been asking me how to identify fake job postings recently. This is really quite frightening. --- Now even downloading a dev tool requires caution. I really can't take it anymore. --- Relying solely on employees' awareness is simply not enough; companies' security departments need to be more vigilant. --- That's why I've always used hardware wallets and not installed a computer client. You DeFi users need to be extra careful. --- During recruitment, you also have to guard against hackers. HR is really tough. --- So, who told you that the offer is real? I am now suspicious of any recruitment.

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LiquidationTherapist

· 8h ago

North Korean hacker groups are up to something again, this time targeting our crypto community directly. Too typical. --- VS Code backdoor? That’s a ruthless move, developers are most vulnerable to this. --- Recruitment phishing is really top-notch; HR folks need to be more vigilant. --- I was wondering why there have been so many strange interview invitations lately, turns out they’re all scams. --- DeFi platforms need to toughen up; social engineering attacks are hard to defend against. --- Be cautious before downloading anything, especially during the job search phase, really. --- It’s North Korea again; these folks are really not idle. Any place with cryptocurrencies gets targeted. --- Speaking of corporate security audits, they’re falling behind, still using outdated recruitment processes. --- Over 3100 IPs targeted; with such a large scale, who knows if anyone has actually fallen for it. --- The Web3 industry is already easy to target, and now even job hunting requires hacker awareness—ridiculous.

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