- Binance and Kraken successfully blocked social-engineering attacks similar to the recent Coinbase breach.
- Coinbase’s breach exposed sensitive customer data after insiders leaked names, addresses, and account info, leading to a failed US$20M extortion attempt. The company faces up to US$400M in potential losses.
- The rise in scams and hacks follows the market’s bullish rally, but with great prices comes greater security and personnel spending.
Two crypto behemoths, Binance and Kraken, had reportedly blocked hack attempts mirroring the recent Coinbase breach.
According to a Bloomberg report, both exchanges managed to avoid customer data exposure, even as crypto platforms face mounting cyber threats amid rising asset prices.
At Binance, scammers contacted customer support agents with bribe offers and Telegram handles for further communication. But the exchange uses AI-powered bots to detect bribery attempts in multiple languages and shut down conversations before escalation.
Additionally, like many major platforms, Binance restricts access to sensitive customer data unless a support session is initiated by the user.
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Big Exchanges are in the Crosshair
The attacks followed the same pattern as the one disclosed last week by Coinbase.
Hackers exploited the firm’s internal systems by convincing a handful of customer agents to leak data. That data, including names, addresses, IDs, banking info, and account balances, was later used in a failed extortion attempt.
Coinbase immediately terminated the employees involved and referred the case to law enforcement. In a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing, the company estimated the breach could cost up to US$400M (AU$624M). It also pledged to reimburse customers who were defrauded.
According to Coinbase, the breach affected data tied to less than 1% of the firm’s monthly transacting users. The attackers then attempted to extort the company for US$20M (AU$31.2M).
Their aim was to gather a customer list they could contact while pretending to be Coinbase — tricking people into handing over their crypto. They then tried to extort Coinbase for $20 million to cover this up. We said no.
CoinbaseShortly after the Coinbase attack took place, reports came up of a failed kidnapping attempt targeting the family of Paymium’s CEO in Paris, which raised alarms across the crypto industry, intensifying fears over physical threats tied to public crypto exposure.
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