Posted on July 12, 2020 at 5:18 PM
More than 336 BTC Stolen from Crypto Exchange Cashaa
Cryptocurrency exchange Cashaa revealed that hackers recently stole 336 Bitcoin from one of its wallets. As a result, the firm has canceled all cryptocurrency-related transactions until further notice. But prima facia users were not affected by the hacking incident.
Kumar Gaurav, Chief Executive Officer of the company, stated that one of its wallets was hacked as over 336 Bitcoin were stolen by the hackers and sent to their address. Also, he is suspecting hackers from Delhi, India, to be responsible for the hacking incident.
Following the compromise of the wallet, the firm has reported the incident to the Delhi crime bureau which was filed under the cryptocurrency crime category with acknowledgment number 20807200031555.
Bitcoin address of hacker revealed
Cashaa is suspecting that the computer used in making exchange transfers was infected with malware, which affected the withdrawal section.
The malware informed the hackers as an employee accessed the exchange again on Friday. After the notification, the hacker carried out two withdrawals from the exposed wallet. Cashaa was utilizing a blockchain.com wallet, which stores and sends BTC, according to Kumar.
“We are still investigating the damage caused by the incident and suspend all the withdrawals for 24 hours,” he said. Kumar further pointed out that the major concern for the company is to prevent the hackers from selling the stolen BTC on exchanges.
Cashaa also revealed the Bitcoin address of the hacker to help monitor the movement of the stolen BTC. The address used by the hackers is 14RdojDWQBVjVg8Rz1BfCCCtpf9sWE5DS1.
However, there is the likelihood that the hackers are using a coin mixture software to minimize any traceability while moving the funds. Kumar said the hackers are being careful not to make the BTC traceable when making transactions on other exchanges. But with the address of the hackers known, there is still a possibility of finding out where the hackers are operating from.
Other exchanges helping BTC theft
Kumar also said hackers who are stealing BTC from exchanges is a result of the high number of exchanges that will allow trading to give the hackers the possibility of depositing the funds.
He said that members in the crypto industry need to work exceptionally hard to make sure the scrutiny in the crypto industry is the same as currently experienced in the banking sector. When such a level of scrutiny is attained in the crypto industry, it will be more difficult for hackers to compromise systems and steal crypto funds, Kumar pointed out.
Presently, hackers are convinced they can easily hack into crypto addresses and steal funds because the level of scrutiny among crypto exchanges is still very porous. They can easily move to crypto exchange and exchange the stolen funds since no strong safety measures or protocols are followed.
Some of these exchanges must not be allowed to operate and their owners should be charged for facilitating money laundering activities, Kumar reiterated.
Investigating agencies are on the case
The Delhi Police Cyber department has been contacted and it’s already on the case. To prevent the hackers from selling the stolen BTC on exchanges, all crypto exchange companies have been informed to stop or block any transaction coming from the given cryptocurrency address.
Exchanges offer their support
The majority of the exchanges have thrown their weight behind Cashaa and have pledged to play their part to make sure the hackers don’t exchange the looted BTC for cash on any exchange.
In response to their compliance, Cashaa said that crypto exchange firms in India like Bitbns, WazirX, and CoinDCX have reached out to the firm, offering their support concerning the stolen BTC funds. The firm also stated that major international Exchanges such as Binance have also shown their support. This is a strong message to hackers that crypto exchanges and stakeholders are teaming up to prevent hackers from gaining their way and going free without being detected.
Chief Executive Officer of WazirX, Nischal Shetty, also pointed out that his company is helping Cashaa and setting up some standards for crypto exchanges.
