Saad Ullah
Exposed Server
According to QuickBit, the breach resulted in data of users such as names, emails, physical addresses and even card information was exposed. The exchange has said it has estimated about 2% user data was left unprotected. The exchange has claimed that although data was bare and accessible to anyone who had the knowledge on how to access it, none of the data has been affected or copied.
QuickBit said it started suspecting a data breach had occurred on 19thJuly. They said they had recently employed a third party security company who had started doing a complete audit detected the issue and informed the exchange. Managing Director or QuickBit Jörgen Eriksson said,
QuickBit has recently adopted a third-party system for supplementary security screening of customers. In connection with the delivery of this system, it has been on a server that has been visible outside QuickBits firewall for a few days and thus accessible to the person who has the right tools.
The exchange said it immediately took appropriate actions and its technicians were able to secure the data and server was secured. The exchange said that it is in the process of developing a report of the incident with complete details for the public. The report will be available on its website.
Inadequate Measures
Security has always been a serious issue for crypto exchanges. With millions of dollars’ worth of assets being traded in any decent exchange, malicious people are always finding ways to exploit weaknesses and gain access. This time, however, the exposure was not of the digital assets, but user data, which is itself a valuable target.
Last month, Bithumb, one of the largest South Korean crypto exchange was fined since it failed to take appropriate actions to ensure its users’ data was protected adequately. In this incident, however, the data breachhad resulted in hackers stealing user data, which gave them access to user assets and an estimated USD 7 million funds were siphoned off.
Saad Ullah
