- Coinbase recently confirmed a cyber attack
- The attack began when the miscreants bribed the employees of the company abroad
- Passwords, and user funds, were not affected
The coinbase, one of the largest centralized cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, suffered a cyber attack, which could cost between $ 180 million and $ 400 million. According to the Reuters, it is cited by a regulatory filing submitted by the company earlier this week.
The exchange stated that on May 11, he received an email from an unknown danger actor, who claimed that he received internal documents, and received sensitive data about some customer accounts. The coinbase later confirmed these claims, saying that only one “small” of the customers was affected.
The stolen data does not include login credentials or passwords, but the Coinbase said it would reimburse anyone who gave his money to the attackers. To obtain files, criminals reportedly paid “many contractors and employees” that were working in support roles outside the US.
Ransom demand
The persons involved were identified and later fired. There is no information about possible legal action against them.
The attackers demanded a ransom of $ 20 million in exchange for data, which the coinbase refused to pay. Instead, it is now offering that accurate amount – $ 20 million – as a reward for anyone coming forward with actionable information about hackers identification or hideouts.
Crypto is currently in a difficult position, trying to establish itself as a legitimate industry while being surrounded by theft, scams, crime and regulatory pressure. A few months ago, bybit – another major cryptocurrency exchange – was hacked, in which North Korean cyber criminals run away with $ 1.5 billion in separate tokens.
Before this May, the bankrupt Crypto Bank, former CEO of the Celsius Network Alex Masinsky was sentenced to 12 years in jail after being convicted for securities fraud and commodities fraud, and recently – three persons tried to kidnap a Crypto Exchange CEO’s daughter.
At the same time, Reuters are reporting that the SEC took an opportunity to check if the coinbase has misunderstood the user’s data and if it has inadequate KYC practices. The coinbase denied the investigation, however.
Through Roots
