The United States-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase recently fell victim to a cyber-attack targeting some employees. Coinbase stated that the attackers sent phishing text messages to employees to gain access to the company’s internal network.
Attack on Coinbase
Fortunately, the attackers were unable to actually gain access to Coinbase’s network, and no customer data was stolen, according to the company, Coinbase reports in An blog post. Coinbase’s security team discovered the attack and took immediate action to mitigate the impact.
The attackers are said to have sent an SMS to employees with an ‘urgent’ request to log into Coinbase’s servers.
“While the majority ignores this unsolicited message, one employee, believing it to be an important and legitimate message, clicks the link and enters his username and password. After ‘logging in’, the employee is asked to ignore the message and is thanked for his cooperation.”
However, the attackers proved unable to really penetrate Coinbase’s systems. When the text message turned out not to be enough, one of the perpetrators even contacted the victim by telephone. However, all attempts failed. So Coinbase’s automatic security system has done its job.
Cyber attacks in crypto
This recent cyber attack once again emphasizes the importance of vigilance and security for individuals and businesses, for sure exchanges, who are active in the crypto industry. Unfortunately, cyber-attacks are still a constant threat and it is crucial to take measures to prevent and combat these attacks.
With the growing popularity of cryptocurrency and blockchainit is vital that companies like Coinbase continue to improve and update their security protocols to maintain customer and employee trust and keep the industry safe and trustworthy.