Coinbase Betrayal

Coinbase, a prominent cryptocurrency exchange, has fallen victim to an insider breach. The company revealed that cyber attackers successfully bribed some of its customer support agents to reveal sensitive information about clients. This data includes names, addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, images of government-issued IDs, masked bank account numbers, and partial social security numbers. The perpetrators further deceived some Coinbase users into transferring funds to them and also demanded a ransom of $20 million from the company in exchange for not publicly disclosing the stolen information.

Coinbase has chosen not to give in to the ransom demands and is collaborating with law enforcement agencies to prosecute the perpetrators. In a blog post, the company announced that it would offer a $20 million reward for any information leading to the arrest and conviction of the remaining attackers. Additionally, it assured users that their login credentials, two-factor authentication codes, and private keys remain secure. The company will reimburse customers who unknowingly sent funds to the extortionists and will implement extra security measures on vulnerable accounts. According to a recent , the estimated cost of the incident to Coinbase is between $180 million and $400 million.