260,000 Impacted in Cryptocurrency Investment Platform Breach
The information of over 260,000 users was stolen after hackers managed to compromise the cryptocurrency investment platform Atlas Quantum.
Through this platform, users can add Bitcoin to their accounts and make profits by trading the cryptocurrency on various platforms. Atlas says it uses an automated arbitrage system to yield profits for customers based on real-time movements in the cryptocurrency market.
The company says it has over 240,000 users in more than 50 countries and over $30 million in assets under its management. In 2017, the platform delivered a cumulative 38% return to investors, Atlas claims.
In an announcement made on Facebook, the company revealed that it became aware of a data breach on Sunday evening and that, although no funds were stolen, its customers database was compromised.
According to a tweet from HaveIBeenPwned, the service that allows users to check whether their accounts and passwords have appeared in any data breaches, the stolen data set had over 261,000 entries.
The leaked information apparently includes affected individuals’ names, phone numbers, and email addresses, as well as their account balances.
“At the time of the incident, we took immediate steps to protect the database and passwords and private keys remain encrypted,” Atlas says.
The investigation into the incident is ongoing, but the company also notes that, in addition to monitoring the affected accounts, they are working to add more protections against fraud.
“Some features of the platform have been temporarily disabled, as a precaution, since we need to ensure security. We will notify you when they are reactivated,” Atlas says.
“The Atlas Quantum data breach suggests that crypto services remain a high-profile target for hackers. Even those who do not actively use the platform to store or invest in crypto may have had their personal data exposed,” Bitglass CTO Anurag Kahol told SecurityWeek in an emailed comment.
“For companies like Atlas, that store mass amounts of user data, reputation and user data security are closely tied. Quickly identifying the cause of this breach and mitigating the threat of further data loss is a critical next step for Atlas and prevention should be top of mind for all companies that store high-value data,” Kahol continued.
The incident should be a wakeup call for cryptocurrency platforms, which are increasingly targeted by cybercriminals, Jonathan Bensen, Director of Product Management/ Acting CISO, Balbix, pointed out to SecurityWeek in an emailed commentary.
Related: Cryptocurrency Theft Tops $1 Billion in Past Six Months
Related: North Korean Hackers Hit Cryptocurrency Exchange with macOS Malware