An attack on a slew of Russian cryptocurrency exchange platforms recently had a serious hack that put the privacy (and wallets) of every user at risk. Researchers with Cybernews conducted an investigation that verified the data leaks of at least 9 major platforms.
The leaked sensitive user data includes full names, IP addresses, email addresses, credit card numbers, descriptors, authentication software used, and the amount purchased/withdrawn. Over 500,000 people were affected by the breach. 615,000 payment requests and 28,000 withdrawal requests were made public.
The 9 platforms hit are:
- Sova[.]gg
- coinstart[.]cc
- pocket-exchange[.]com
- onemoment[.]cc
- cripta[.]cc
- metka[.]cc
- alt-coin[.]cc
- ferma[.]cc
- in-to[.]cc
“The data was handled using MongoDB, which, when properly implemented, is a powerful database software. However, a misconfiguration allowed unrestricted access, enabling third parties to access and expose the crypto exchange data,” said the researchers who investigated the matter.
In a strange turn of events, the data that was breached on October 10th was then completely destroyed with the use of malware. The website no longer hosts the data at all.
This may be because Russian cryptocurrency platforms are often used as a vessel for criminal activities and the leaked data provides the authorities with valuable information. Both researchers and law enforcement agencies can use the leaked information to check for criminal activity.
“For some, this may be an “I didn’t see that coming” moment, which will require dusting off the storytelling skills and looking for alibis,” the researchers said.
If you’re currently using one of those nine cryptocurrency platforms, make sure that you immediately change your password, enable multi-factor authorization, and watch over your accounts and credit score. As a personal bit of advice, consider using a hardware wallet to store crypto, so that your cryptocurrency isn’t subject to being stolen right from under you.