Last Updated on 22/11/2021 by Anamika
Reportedly, Coinbase has said in a statement that the hackers have been able to hack the data of 6000 customers and stole cryptocurrency by finding a loophole in the two-factor authentication system. Coinbase revealed it by sending the notice of the data breach to its customers who got affected by it.
According to the reports, the breach happened between the time period of March 2021 to May 2021. Coinbase also said that the hackers were able to hack the data of such a large number of customers by using a large-scale phishing campaign, tricking the customers into providing sensitive information like email addresses, passwords, and phone numbers in the hand of the hackers.
Furthermore, the hackers whose identity is unknown till were also able to get access to the victims’ e-mail boxes by using malicious software which had the power to read and write emails, granting the permission to use the inbox.
Even though just a password is not enough to break Coinbase’s security system, it does require two-factor authentication and a One Time Password (OTP). Generally, the hackers were not able to get those, but in some cases, the hackers were able to get the OTPs by impersonating the user and gaining access to the code, hence stealing the cryptocurrency.
Although Coinbase still doesn’t have any idea how impersonating happened, wild guesses are that the hackers used a SIM-swapping attack to trick the cell phone carrier to their mobile system from the victim’s mobile server.
Coinbase is trying very hard to make up for the flaw but for the time being, Coinbase has made the two-factor authentication system even stronger for the customers and is educating them on not sharing the passcode with anyone and be aware of future hacks and breaches
