- Coinbase refused to pay a $20 million ransom after a breach but instead launched a matching $20 million bounty to anyone who would help in convicting the hacker.
- The hackers bribed overseas support staff to access limited user data, but so far, no passwords or funds were stolen.
Coinbase has taken their bold stand against cyber extortion by refusing to pay a $20 million ransom to unknown blackmailers. Recently, Coinbase faced a platform breach, and some attackers sent a message claiming that they had confidential information about the platform.
The attack started on the 15th of May, when the CEO of Coinbase, Brian Armstrong, shared that the company received an email where the sender demanded $20 million. According to the email, the hackers warned that they would leak the private details of customers if the platform didn’t pay $20 million in Bitcoin. Instead of giving in, Armstrong made a public statement refusing to make the payments, but instead, he promised to hunt down those responsible.
How the Attackers Got Coinbase Customer Information
According to investigations done within the company, it is said that the attackers managed to get data from a few users by bribing Coinbase customer support services overseas, but the platform later confirmed that no passwords, wallets, or funds were affected. Armstrong also said that Coinbase will pay back all users who lost crypto through this attack. The company is also moving some of its support teams to new places, though Armstrong did not mention which ones will change.
During all of this, the company launched its own $20 million reward for anyone who can help find and convict the criminals. And as of the time of writing, law enforcement is now involved. Coinbase is also improving its safety systems to stop future threats. This move just shows Coinbase’s dedication to customer security and its zero-tolerance approach to digital blackmail.
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