Posted on June 12, 2018 at 8:26 PM
Korean Exchange Lost $40 Million in a Hacking Attack
This Sunday has seen yet another hacking attack on a known cryptocurrency exchange, and this time, the target was South Korea’s Coinrail. The attack had large consequences, and the exchange lost up to $40 million in various cryptos. Another consequence includes a serious hit on the value of Bitcoin (BTC), which dropped down to $6,781.
Bitcoin falls after the attack
Hacking attacks on crypto exchanges have become a rather popular activity of cybercriminals this year, and several large crypto exchanges have been hit in the last six months. The latest attack happened only yesterday, on Sunday, June 10. The target of the attack was Coinrail, a crypto exchange from South Korea.
The exchange lost up to $40 million in cryptocurrencies, but that is not all – the attack has also managed to influence the price of Bitcoin (BTC), which dropped yet again, and is currently at $6,781.
The details regarding the attack were not yet published at the time of writing, but the exchange did release an official statement in which they confirm the hack. Not much more was said in the announcement, but the research has uncovered a wallet address with some very specific information. According to this info, the exchange seems to have lost $19.5 million in NPXS from the ICO belonging to Pundi X, as well as $13.8 million from an ICO project of Aston X. Additionally, $5.8 million came from Dent, and $1.1 from TRON.
The issue is currently under investigation, according to Coinrail, which is reviewing the system that was targeted by the attackers. Additionally, the exposed NPER, ATX, and NPXS coins are currently frozen, while the exchanges secured the rest of the cryptos in a cold wallet.
해킹공격시도로 인한 시스템 점검중입니다. 일부코인(펀디엑스,NPXS)이 확인되었으며 추가적인 코인피해가 있는지 여부를 확인중입니다. 추후 자세한 사항은 재공지하겠습니다 / There has been an cyber intrusion in our system. We're confirming it and some coins(Pundi X, NPXS) are confirmed.
— coinrail (@Coinrail_Korea) June 10, 2018
Coins under investigation
According to Coinrail’s statement, the exchange is currently checking their server in order to ensure the stability of the environment. They are also checking the systems for flaws, and trying to uncover how the hackers managed to breach their defenses. They also mentioned the affected coins, which are under negotiation so that the further damage can be prevented. However, some of them may not be capable of transmission to the network.
The exchange added that two-thirds of the cryptos believed to be leaked are currently frozen, while the remaining number is under investigation by developers, exchanges, and other investigators.
As for Pundi X, they halted their token’s transactions upon receiving an email from Korean Police. The transactions will be stopped until further notice, as per the Police’s request.
The number of hacking attacks on cryptocurrencies has been on a rise for a while now, and this is the second one in a single week. The previous attack happened on June 6, and it targeted Japanese Syndicate Wallet. The wallet lost $10 million to hackers, once again, in different coins. The stolen currencies include Level Up, Ethereum, Shopin Token, and Orbs.
