The largest Bitcoin platform has been hacked and managed to steal more than 7,000 Bitcoins, the equivalent of about 36 million euros
Hackers have managed to steal more than 7,000 bitcoins in Binance, the largest cryptocurrency platform in the world in daily volume. With the current value of Bitcoin, theft is equivalent to about 36 million euros. It is less than the 63 million dollars that were hacked at the end of 2017 in the company NiceHash, but at that time the value of the cryptocurrency was higher and in fact "only" 4,736 BTC were lost.
Changpeng Zhao, CEO of Binance, has explained some details of the hack to his platform, ensuring among other things that the company has insurance and will cover the possible losses of users.
Binance's most important wallet committed
According to the company, the hackers managed to obtain API keys, two-factor codes and other information. "A big security problem", because with these codes the hackers could access the Binance accounts and move the BTCs to another wallet. In particular, they accessed an important wallet, where Binance had 2% of all their Bitcoins.
The methods used by hackers would include several techniques, including phishing, malware and other types of attacks. The company has yet to conclude which of these routes were used by hackers.
In an official statement on this security breach, Binance explains what happened last Tuesday, May 7:
"The hackers had the patience to wait and execute well-orchestrated actions across multiple seemingly independent accounts at the most opportune time." The transaction is structured in a way that passed our existing security controls.It was unfortunate that we could not block this withdrawal before Once it was executed, the recall triggered several alarms in our system and we stopped all withdrawals immediately after that. "
Still, the CEO of Binance warns that "hackers can still be in control of certain user accounts and could use them to influence prices."
Until the investigation is completed, the deposits and withdrawals will be closed, although the operations that will remain open will not be closed. The company recommends all users to change their API keys and two-factor authentication, because even though they have not detected any strange movements, it is possible that hackers have accessed other accounts.
Binance has indicated that it is working with other Bitcoin platforms to block pirated address deposits and warns that until at least next week it will not be able to ensure that there is no more sign of the hackers. "It's a pretty tedious process," Zhao describes.
The value of Bitcoin has been rising gradually during the last month
The Binance hack comes after a rise of 9% over the last week and so far this month has risen just over 11%, despite some bump. The current value of Bitcoin is over 5,200 euros and there are those who associate it with an incest.
Be that as it may, we do not stop being at a value that continues to be quite volatile and where, like any other currency, it is not exempt from security risks.