Search This Blog
Powered by Blogger.

Blog Archive

Labels

Load More
Trendy Right Now

Popular Posts

Showing posts with label Bitfinex. Show all posts
University Hack
Bitfinex Cyber Attacks Data Safety Data Theft Hackers Ransom Demands Ransomware threats University Hack

Assessing F Society's Latest Ransomware Targets: Are They at Risk?

 

In recent developments, the F Society ransomware group has once again made headlines by listing four additional victims on its leak site. The alleged targets include Bitfinex, Coinmoma, Rutgers University, and SBC Global Net. Bitfinex, a renowned cryptocurrency exchange platform, and Coinmoma, offering cryptocurrency-related data, are among the victims. 

Rutgers University, one of the oldest universities in the US, and SBC Global Net, an email service once provided by SBC Communications, are also allegedly affected. While the attacks are yet to be officially confirmed, the ransomware group has provided unique descriptions for each victim, along with links to sample data obtained from the attacks. 

Bitfinex was reportedly targeted with the theft of 2.5 TB of information and personal details of 400K users. Rutgers University faced an alleged theft of 1 TB of data, with the specific type of information not disclosed. Coinmoma was claimed to have sensitive data, including user information and transaction histories, compromised, with a file size of 2TB and 210k user records. 

Similarly, SBC Global Net was stated to have unauthorized access, leading to the theft of personal user details, with a file size of 1 TB. Despite these claims, no ransom amount has been publicly mentioned, and the victims are given seven days to comply with the demands, failing which the obtained data will be leaked. 

As of now, there have been no official responses from the victims, and the claims remain unverified. While the authenticity of F Society's claims is uncertain, Bitfinex had previously experienced a significant hacking incident in 2016. During this incident, approximately 119,754 bitcoins were stolen from the platform due to a breach, leading to unauthorized transactions. The stolen bitcoins were later recovered by law enforcement after a thorough investigation, marking one of the largest recoveries in the history of the US Department of Justice. 

However, the perpetrator behind the hack remains unidentified, although it is known that they attempted to cover their tracks using a data destruction tool. The previous security lapse experienced by Bitfinex highlights the importance of robust cybersecurity measures, especially in the realm of cryptocurrency exchanges. As cyber threats continue to evolve, organizations must prioritize the implementation of stringent security protocols to safeguard sensitive data and mitigate the risk of ransomware attacks.
 
Additionally, prompt response and collaboration with law enforcement agencies are essential in investigating such incidents and holding perpetrators accountable for their actions. The recent targeting of prominent entities by the F Society ransomware group underscores the persistent threat posed by cybercriminals. As organizations strive to fortify their defenses against such attacks, proactive measures and swift action are imperative to protect valuable assets and maintain trust among stakeholders in an increasingly digital landscape.
Read more »
Phishing Sca
Bitfinex Cyber Attacks Cyber Threats CyberCrime Cybersecurity Phishing Sca

Phishing Scare at Bitfinex: Employee Breach Exposes Users to Cyber Threats

 


A phishing attack was carried out on one of Bitfinex's customer service representatives earlier this week, which resulted in a minor security incident. It was determined that the attack was not a virus, but rather a phishing attack.  

The Bitfinex exchange has recently suffered from a "minor" security incident involving one of its customer support agents, who was hacked by someone attempting to hack his computer. As a result, several users were targeted in phishing attacks as a result of the attack. 

An October 30 to November 5 incident, according to a recent press release by the crypto exchange, occurred during the period from October 30 to November 5. The company, however, offered their customers a guarantee that there would be minimal impact and that no significant damages would occur as a result. 

A customer support agent who was given access to partial information of the customer, as a result of a phishing attack, was involved in the breach. However, this attack only underlines how often bad actors attempt to attack major crypto infrastructures such as exchanges, even though the threat has now been resolved. 

As part of a blog post released on the 4th of November, Bitfinex revealed that hackers perpetrated a phishing attack to acquire information about customer support agents. However, it seems the efforts of the bad guys were not fruitful. It was stated in the exchange that the targeted agent was restricted to supporting tools and helpdesk tickets due to a lack of senior permission.  

In other words, the hackers were unable to obtain some valuable data from Bitfinex customer support boards, which contained only partial, incomplete and stale information, which prevented them from being able to effectively contact Bitfinex for assistance. 

According to Bitfinex, no systems of the exchange were negatively affected, nor was any of the server, wallet, or database infrastructure of the exchange compromised, and all customer assets remain safe and intact as well and were not compromised or accessed by hackers at any time during this period. The exchange has however stated that it will make contact with the owners of the affected accounts to determine whether they will have any evidence of the attack.

Nonetheless, there were some accounts affected by the attack. Bitfinex claims these accounts were empty or inoperative. Bitfinex is a Hong Kong-based company founded in 2012 that offers trading services for dollars and bitcoins and was established in 2013, Jean-Louis van der Velde has been serving as the company's CEO since 2013. 

That incident happened despite Bitfinex regularly reviewing its security procedures and mandating all employees to attend cybersecurity training. Among all cryptocurrency exchanges, Bitcoin forex is ranked 17th in CoinGecko's "Trust Score" index. Since 2013, the exchange has seen over 800,000 visitors on its platform, putting it in 17th place on CoinGecko's "Trust Score" index out of all cryptocurrency exchanges. 

Under the leadership of its CEO Jean-Louis van der Velde since 2013, it has been ranked 17th among cryptocurrency exchanges with the highest trust score. This security incident comes as hackers and scams continue to plague the crypto industry as the platform recorded over 800,000 visits in the past month alone. 

The security incident at Bitfinex is yet another example of hacks and scams plaguing the crypto industry. A recent report released by Immunefi, which specializes in blockchain security, found 76 hacks were reported in the third quarter of 2023 against crypto and Web3 projects and organizations. This represents a dramatic increase over the previous quarter of 30 hacks. 

According to the latest figures, there have been approximately $332 million lost to various hacks, exploits, and scams throughout September, making September the highest-ever month for crypto-exploitations. Crypto exchanges, which hold so many assets at one time at each point in time, are not surprising targets for hackers as they mentioned earlier, because of how large their asset base is at any given moment.  It is reported that Dunmanu, the operator of Upbit, recorded about 160,000 hacking attempts against the South Korean exchange's infrastructure in H1 2023. 

This is twice the number of attacks the exchange experienced in H1 2022, which has meant that 160,000 hacking attacks were made on the exchange's infrastructure during the first half of 2023.  The two exchanges Upbit and Bitfinex were able to scale through these attacks untouched, while others have suffered significant losses as a result of these bad actors. 

A security exploit caused about $23 million of digital assets worth of digital assets to be lost by the Bitrue exchange in April, which has a daily trading volume of $1 billion.  In the following six months, CoinEx, based in Hong Kong, experienced the largest heist ever on a centralized cryptocurrency exchange in 2023, when hackers robbed the hot wallets of the exchange for approximately $55.5 million. It is only through these attacks that we can truly understand that the security systems in the crypto space need to be continuously improved.
Read more »
United States
Bitcoin Bitfinex Crypto Currency Cyber Crime Dark Web Darknet FBI United States

Russian Man and his Wife Arrested in U.S. for Stealing Record $4.5 billion in Bitcoins

Russian citizen Ilya Lichtenstein and his wife Heather Morgan were arrested in the United States on Tuesday. The U.S. Justice Department in a statement called them the largest Internet fraudsters in history. 

The spouses are suspected of hacking the Hong Kong cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex in 2016 and withdrawing 120,000 bitcoins from its accounts, which is $4.5 billion at current prices. Intelligence agencies managed to confiscate $3.6 billion worth of bitcoins stored in the Russian's e-wallets. 

On Tuesday night, after the arraignment in the Court of the Southern District of New York, Magistrate Judge Debra Freeman decided to release the suspects on bail of $8 million for two. However, the spouses were unable to leave federal prison as the judge's decision was put on hold by Washington. 

According to the prosecution, the couple should remain in custody because "they are sophisticated cybercriminals and money launderers, and there is a serious risk of their escape." Prosecutors admit that the couple may have passports in other names. 

In particular, agents found a file named Passport_ideas on Liechtenstein's computer. And a plastic container with disposable phones was found under the bed in the apartment of the defendants. Under American law, Ilya Lichtenstein and Heather Morgan face up to 25 years in prison. 

A few years ago, 34-year-old Ilya Lichtenstein unsuccessfully tried to create a technology startup and become an investor. He came to the United States from Russia at the age of six, when his family was granted asylum for religious reasons. 

His wife, Heather Morgan, called herself an economist, a journalist, and a "Crocodile of Wall Street", was a freelance writer for Forbes magazine and even performed as a rapper under the name Razzltkhan. According to the New York Times, giant billboards with her image decorated Times Square. 

According to the investigation conducted by the FBI and the US Internal Revenue Service, Lichtenstein and Morgan hacked the Bitfinex protection system and made about 2 thousand illegal transactions, transferring funds from the accounts of the exchange's clients to their electronic wallet. 

In subsequent years, the suspects managed to launder about 25 thousand bitcoins through third-party exchanges and online services on the darknet. A new hearing on Lichtenstein and his wife's bail application will be held in Washington on February 11.
Read more »
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)