Bithumb Bitcoin Exchange is Confirmed as Hacked!

Bithumb, one of the major bitcoin and cryptocurrency websites, has been confirmed as hacked with over 30,000 accounts being compromised in the attack. Unconfirmed reports are suggesting money may have left some accounts. This has many people worried, ‘is my online currency safe?’

What was the nature of the attack on Bithumb?

Fortunately it appears that the damage is quite minimal, however, details at the moment are unavailable. The attack, as reported by NextPowerUp, that Bithumb, as the current 4th largest exchange for cryptocurrency, is still investigating the attack.

Fortunately, the compromise is reported as only of a limited nature. Bithumb has said that no passwords have been compromised in the attack although personal data, such as e-mail addresses and account balances do appear to have been obtained. So if that’s the case, you’re probably wondering how did this attack happen. Well, one employee got a bit careless it seems.

What went wrong?

Well, frankly it’s a bit worrying. Well, Bithumb has thrown an employee under the bus.  Bithumb, in a statement, confirmed that an employees PC was hacked, however fortunately only the data used by this employee had been obtained. Honest of the company, but it doesn’t fill you with confidence. This is, after all, money we’re talking about here.

Crytocurrency is gaining a lot of credibility. We recently reported how the creator of bit-torrenting was considering creating their own.

In a statement, Bithumb has said:

The attack has raised a number of concerns with the security of the company. This is, after all, one of the largest crytocurrency exchanges in the world. It is reported that Korea’s Internet & Security Agency will be investigating both the incident and the company’s security proceedures.

The majority of the attacks on customers seems to be via the utilisation of the stolen data for phishing purposes. The hackers might not have got everything they wanted, but they clearly have enough to cause people problems. Confirmed reports has emerged of people losing funds due to targeted attacks. The attacks are of the standard e-mail scam variety. Pretty standard, but still concerning.

With bitcoin mining being such a major industry these days, such news is going to be very concerning for the consumer base. I am sure that more details will come over the next week in regards to the extend of this attack, however, the best advice at present for those who utilise Bithumb is simply to be sceptical of any contact and you may wish to consider the standard password change as a precaution. You know, the basics.

Are you a customer of Bithumb? If so, will this news make you consider swapping in the future? Let us know in the comments!