[2019-04-04] Hacked Bitcoin Exchange Bithumb Tells Traders to Halt Deposits

[MathGame]

Bithumb, the exchange recently hacked last week to the tune of around $20 million, sent out an e-mail this morning asking customers to cease making deposits until further notice. The exchange reiterates its claim that no customer funds are lost. Instead, the request is to help investigators. It reads, in part:

    We would like to ask you to stop making deposits of cryptocurrency in order to check our member’s assets through external organization and to cooperate with the investigating agency in connection with an accident that is supposed to be an internal embezzlement that occurred on March 29th.

Inside Job is a Centralized Concern

“Internal embezzlement” is the fundamental risk with centralized exchanges, of course. Just as banks and armored vehicles are never entirely safe, keeping millions of dollars within reach of humans will always present the risk of fraud. In this case, the attacker, who is roundly believed to be a Bithumb employee, chose not to take from the customers. But it’s certainly imaginable that he or she could have.

https://www.ccn.com/hacked-bitcoin-exchange-bithumb-tells-traders-to-halt-deposits

[Kemarit]

Weird, Did FSB gave them the go signal to accept deposits after the hacked? Usually, exchanges are 'cordoned' by South Korean regulations to do their investigations. We all know that this is not the first time Bithumb have been hacked so they should know the drill. Did they do their own investigations and not involved the regulators since it's supposedly a "inside job'? They should at least halt everything and let the investigators do their job.

[Slow death]

they have fired some employees and then are hackers targets? I believe that investigators should start investigate all former staff and current staff and including should investigate the owner of the exchange to see if he does not disclose sensitive information to any relative or close acquaintance. And it is time to start revealing the faces and names of these hackers, as they do not reveal the names and faces of these hackers when they are found, it further increases the confidence of these hackers

[1Referee]

Inside Job is a Centralized Concern

“Internal embezzlement” is the fundamental risk with centralized exchanges, of course. Just as banks and armored vehicles are never entirely safe, keeping millions of dollars within reach of humans will always present the risk of fraud. In this case, the attacker, who is roundly believed to be a Bithumb employee, chose not to take from the customers. But it’s certainly imaginable that he or she could have.

https://www.ccn.com/hacked-bitcoin-exchange-bithumb-tells-traders-to-halt-deposits

Banks have proven to be way safer than all crypto exchanges combined when it comes to fund safety. It's pointless to compare highly regulated financial institutions to crap coin exchanges being operated by a bunch of greedy con artists.

There are no clear regulations and oversight on how exchanges actually store their funds, and who can access these funds and who doesn't. The more transparency there is, the less incentive rogue employees have to attempt inside theft.

I'm glad that with Lightning becoming more of a thing instant fund swaps are coming closer too. Perhaps that this will help making decentralized exchanges more attractive, because they lack in the speed area right now, which people understandably see as a problem.

[buwaytress]

No, we weren't hacked. No we haven't lost funds. This is for your own good. Your funds are safe. Trust us. We have the best security in the world.

The only funds I've ever kept at exchanges are a handful of sh*tcoins I just couldn't be bothered to store in wallets. Now that they've just recently gained a collective 3-digit value, I probably should liquidate and get myself a nice dinner lest I get an email suddenly claiming I should halt everything for some vague investigation to protect me.

[vit05]

Is there any more information about what exactly was stolen? Which coins and if the hackers was able to take out everything? Mostly of hackers happen when people use third party software.

[tweetbit]

Oh! Again. Bithumb and same cheap exchanges like this don’t really care about their security and it’s depositors money. They only focus on how much they will earn from us. Its been a bit of common advice to every crypto users to lock your coins in an offline wallet that is safe from any hacking malware and just take it out in time you will use or convert it.

Don’t do HODL on exchanges. Hard headed noob investors.

[BitHodler]

Don’t do HODL on exchanges. Hard headed noob investors.

People haven't learned anything from past hacks. All they care about is how they can avoid taking care of their own coins and have them ready to dump in a matter of seconds in case there is a major price movement.

I have even read how people don't want to spend money on a hardware wallet, while they completely ignore the fact that a $100 investment in a hardware wallet prevents losses of tens of thousands of dollars, or even way higher.

Bithumb is an exchange I put in the same category as Yobit. In both cases shitcoins are the central focus, and not providing a useful service to people who want a professional platform to buy and sell coins at.

[hugeblack]

I do not know why the South Korean regulatory authorities do not take any action against this kind of manipulation? The platform has fully demonstrated its inability to protect depositors' funds. "It's no different from being internal embezzlement or hack."

Such stories make it absurd to think about getting some money from shitcoins with high risks about losing them.