How Popular Crypto Exchanges Are Learning to Deal with Cyberattacks

 

Blockchain has revolutionized the way we look at monetary transactions and banking, however the 9 year existence of cryptocurrency has been peppered with some monumental hacks.

Blockchain technology will always push the envelope when battling against such cyber-attacks while the space is constantly evolving. Unfortunately, the criminal empire will always evolve alongside these changes.

Let’s take a look at some of the biggest exchanges over the past 9 years.

Mt. Gox Exchange

Mt. Gox, one of the most notorious incidences since bitcoin’s inception, which has set the bar very high in terms of its effect it had within the cryptocurrency community.

The incident claimed over 850,000 Bitcoin, which made headlines over the last 4 years and has been a major talking point during this time. At the height of its popularity, in 2013, Mt. Gox was the largest exchange in the world, responsible for over 80% of all Bitcoin transactions.

This resulted in $473 million worth of Bitcoin stolen. The details surrounding the hack are still not clear; however a large number of people were arrested for the involvement with these stolen funds.

Take note that it’s hard to refer to Mt. Gox as a pure cyber hack, as the CEO Mark Karpeles was indeed charged with embezzlement of these Bitcoin funds for his involvement in this case, not to mention various associates of his which were also involved.

Coincheck Exchange

Fast forward to 2018, where this most recent hack, which was unfortunately titled as the largest cryptocurrency hack in modern history, with regard to value, was stolen by hackers.

It’s not entirely clear how this happened, however the hacker gained access to private keys of Coinchecks online wallet and moved approximately $523 million worth of NEM coins.

The exchange was condemned for its horrible security standards. Those within the cryptocurrency community could not believe that all these funds were stolen from a single wallet address.

Nonetheless, the exchange worked diligently to reduce the damage done by ..... READ THE FULL STORY HERE