Hackers have stolen $41m (\u00a331m) worth of Bitcoin in a major crypto-currency heist.<\/p>\n
The Binance exchange, which stores Bitcoin and other crypto-currencies for members, said hackers took 7,000 bitcoins in one go. Withdrawals have now been suspended on the platform.<\/p>\n
“We beg for your understanding in this difficult situation,”\u00a0Binance said.<\/a><\/p>\n However, the exchange said it would replace the lost cash with the help of its emergency insurance fund.<\/p>\n According to Binance, the attackers used a variety of techniques to break in. They deployed viruses and used phishing attacks to get security information.<\/p>\n This eventually allowed them to access the exchange’s “hot wallet”, an online cache of bitcoins readily available for customer transactions.<\/p>\n The hot wallet contained about 2% of Binance’s total crypto-currency assets. Other wallets were “secure and unharmed”, the firm said.<\/p>\n The hackers “had the patience to wait” and acquire access to a number of accounts before withdrawing the huge haul of bitcoins, according to Binance.<\/p>\n “It was unfortunate that we were not able to block this withdrawal before it was executed,” the company’s statement read.<\/p>\n “Once executed, the withdrawal triggered various alarms in our system.<\/p>\n “We stopped all withdrawals immediately after that.”<\/p>\n Now, the ability to withdraw funds from the exchange has been disabled and may not be restored until next week.<\/p>\n In a live video chat<\/a>, Binance’s chief executive Changpeng Zhao sought to answer questions about the hack.<\/p>\n “I haven’t really slept much for the last 29 hours,” he said. “To be honest I don’t feel that well\u2026 it’s not a great day.”<\/p>\n However, he told Binance users that he and his colleagues were working to secure the exchange and prevent any further hacks.<\/p>\n And he added that he was asking other exchanges to block bitcoins associated with the hacked wallet from being transferred elsewhere, which would render them largely useless.<\/p>\n While Binance is one of the largest crypto-currency exchanges, the heist is not the largest the Bitcoin world has seen.<\/p>\n In 2014, Mt Gox was hacked to the tune of $470m.<\/p>\n “Blockchain businesses will need to implement controls more commonly seen in the traditional banking sector if they are to win over consumers,” said cyber-security expert Matthew Hickey at Hacker House.<\/p>\n “Cyber-insurance is a common necessity today as identify theft, malware and cyber-attacks are frequently being performed against high-value blockchain and crypto-currency companies.”<\/p>\n Source: bbc.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"‘Patient hackers’<\/h2>\n