The U.K.-based crypto exchange, Cashaa, claims that hackers stole 336 bitcoins worth about $3.1 million from the exchange. The exchange firm has now halted all cryptocurrency transactions, such as withdrawals and deposits, in order to pave the way for security breach investigations.
Cashaa revealed through a tweet that the attacker hacked one of their wallets on Blockchain.com. The wallet is used to maintain the BTC and to make transfers to the crypto exchange platform. It is believed that the hacker has embedded malware into one of Casha’s computer systems.
One of our wallets with https://t.co/kOkoOMdrEm was compromised and funds were transferred to 14RYUUaMW1shoxCav4znEh64xnTtL3a2Ek #Cashaaexchangeissafe #Cashaafightsfraud @coincrunchin
— Cashaa (@yourCashaa) July 11, 2020
Crypto exchange Cashaa attack took 3 minutes
Moreover, as one of the employees accessed the computer on July 10 to validate two separate transactions, the attacker swooped in, getting away with 336 Bitcoins worth approximately $3.1 million under the current market price. The incident took place within three minutes, between 1:23 pm and 1:26 pm. The CEO of Cashaa, Kumar Gaurav, reportedly told media outlets that:
“We are still investigating the damage caused by the incident and suspend all withdrawals for 24 hours. We have called the board meeting to decide whether the company will bear all the losses.”
Cashaa CEO wants exchanges that allow transfer of stolen funds to be shut down
According to Cashaa crypto exchange, the funds were transferred to this bitcoin address: 14RYUUaMW1shoxCav4znEh64xnTtL3a2Ek. There are some suggestions that the crypto mixing software is being used to transfer the stolen BTC; to confine the digital trails. Cashaa also suspects that the perpetrator is from East Delhi , India, and has therefore filed a report with the Delhi Police Cyber Crime Department.
In addition, Cashaa has reported the address involved to all crypto exchange platforms in an attempt to prevent the hacker from spending the stolen crypto. Through a statement directed at exchanges that permit stolen funds transactions; Guarav said attackers are assured of hacking cryptocurrency addresses and moving the funds via these exchanges. Gaurav also noted the need to shut down these platforms and charge owners for money laundering.