Coinbase will not pay ransom to hackers, but will compensate customers for losses - CEO of cryptocurrency exchange
Kyiv • UNN
Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase will not pay ransom to hackers who stole customer data. The company will reimburse customers who were tricked into transferring money to fraudsters.
Brian Armstrong, CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, said the company will not pay the $20 million ransom demanded by hackers in exchange for not disclosing stolen customer data. This is reported by Entrepreneur, writes UNN.
Details
"I'm going to answer publicly," said Armstrong, director of the cryptocurrency exchange. "We're not going to pay the ransom."
Armstrong said the attackers found a "weak link" - a customer support agent outside the United States who accepted a "bribe" and handed over customers' personal data.
Coinbase said it will reimburse customers who were tricked into sending funds to the attacker. Hackers gained access to names, addresses, phone numbers and email addresses, masked social security numbers, masked bank account numbers, and images of government IDs.
The company says passwords or private keys were not obtained. The letter arrived on Sunday.
(The stolen data) allows them to conduct social engineering attacks, where they can call our customers on behalf of Coinbase customer support and try to trick them into sending their funds to the attackers.
According to the AP, Coinbase estimated in documents filed with the SEC that it could ultimately spend between $180 million and $400 million "on remediation costs and voluntary customer refunds in connection with this incident."
Meanwhile, the New York Times reports that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is conducting a separate investigation into Coinbase for providing inaccurate data during its 2021 IPO. In marketing materials, the company claimed to have more than 100 million "verified users."
