Featured Image Credit: Twitter/@brian_armstrong
Topics: Bitcoin, Cryptocurrency, Money, Technology, Crime, US News
Liv Bridge
Topics: Bitcoin, Cryptocurrency, Money, Technology, Crime, US News
The CEO of a crypto company has issued an interesting response to the hackers made demands for $20 million in Bitcoins.
The Crypto giant Coinbase confirmed this week that cyberpunks managed to steal its customer data, as well as government-issued identity documents, according to TechCrunch.
As per is legally-required filing with US regulators, the company claimed a hacker told Coinbase it had obtained customer account information - and demanded a hefty sum of $20 million in Bitcoin in exchange for not publishing the stolen information.
Now, it's billionaire CEO Brian Armstrong has issued a public message of defiance in response to the purported 'bribery' and 'ransom note,' with a hefty monetary offer to anyone who can help out.
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"We'd like to do things transparently here at Coinbase," Armstrong began, "And so I'm going to respond publicly to these attackers by saying, no."
"'No, we are not going to pay your ransom.' In fact, I have a few next steps in mind."
Explaining what happened, Armstong said Coinbase conducted an investigation and found the attackers had been approaching their employees, overseas customer support agents, 'looking for a weak link' and someone who would 'accept a bribe'.
The 42-year-old continued that the staff had limited access to customer information, adding: "There was no passwords or private keys or funds access as part of this, but customer support agents do have access to personal information, like name, date of birth, address, et cetera.
"And attackers still want access to this information because it allows them to conduct social engineering attacks where they can call our customers, impersonating Coinbase customer support and try to trick them into sending their funds to the attacker."
Unfortunately, Armstrong continued, the cyber criminals did find 'a few bad apples' in the company, but reassured customers that Coinbase's systems are designed to 'mitigate' against such attacks.
He said less than one percent of its monthly transacting users have been affected.
"But this is still unacceptable," he continued as he laid out his plan to tackle the situation.
First, he said affected customers will be reimbursed and contacted, while the company makes moves to 'harden' its systems and relocate some of its operations.
Finally, Armstrong revealed Coinbase's unusual offer.
"Instead of paying this $20 million ransom, we're turning it around," he said.
"We're putting out a $20 million reward for any information leading to the arrest and conviction of these attackers."
Reminiscent of Liam Neeson's iconic line in Taken, he concluded: "For these would-be extortionists, or anyone seeking to harm Coinbase customers, know that we will prosecute and bring you to justice."
According to the tech outlet, staff involved in the breach have been let go from the company.
In another statement on Twitter, Coinbase said cyber criminals 'bribed and recruited rogue overseas support agents' to pull the data, adding: "No passwords, private keys, or funds were exposed. Prime accounts are untouched. We will reimburse impacted customers."