Cryptocurrency investment platform Atlas Quantum is the latest victim of a data breach. Luckily, no funds were stolen in the incident.
We all try to be as careful as we can when using the Internet. Identity theft is rife, which is why we take care with the personal information we put out there. We use tricky passwords that include eight characters, a vial of blood, DNA sample, etc.
However, no matter how hard we work to safeguard our data, cybercriminals are always stalking in the shadows waiting for an opportune moment to pounce and steal our information. A data breach is a nightmare for both the users and the platform affected, something that Atlas Quantum recently discovered for themselves.
Another Day, Another Data Breach
SC Media reported that the cryptocurrency investment site experienced a data breach that affected more than 261,000 of their users. According to information available on Have I Been Pwned, the incident occurred on the 25th of August with the following information left exposed:
- Account balances
- Email addresses
- Names
- Phone numbers
While it appears that the platform’s entire customer base was affected, Chief Executive Officer Rodrigo Marques assured clients that their funds were not in danger, stating:
We would like to point out that this is not a steal of bitcoins in custody or violation of our accounts in the exchanges. However, our customer base was exposed. At the time of the incident, we took immediate steps to protect the database and passwords and private keys remain encrypted.
The Worst May Be yet to Come
However, Kevin Stear believes that those affected shouldn’t breathe easy just yet. Stear is a lead threat analyst at JASK, a US-based cybersecurity firm. He explained:
The rise of cryptocurrency marketplaces has significantly expanded the attack surface of conventional banking trojan campaigns, and these targets are typically entities without the robust security maturity, and anti-fraud capabilities, of traditional online banking providers. Even though no funds were stolen from Atlas Quantum users through this breach, it still should set off a serious alarm, for both users and the company, as the initial infiltration could be an early step in footprinting for a much larger campaign (e.g. spear-phishing) for consequential credential stealing and account take-over.
In addition, the Chief Technology Officer of Bitglass, Anurag Kahol, had some input. Bitglass also provides online security solutions. Kahol added:
For companies like Atlas, that store mass amounts of user data, reputation and user data security are closely tied. Quickly identifying the cause of this breach and mitigating the threat of further data loss is a critical next step for Atlas and prevention should be top of mind for all companies that store high-value data.
While technology obviously has its advantages, it also sometimes lends a helping hand to scam artists whose life mission is to swindle people through a variety of get-rich-quick schemes. As the cryptocurrency industry gains traction, it opens itself to these fraudsters while traders and holders are the ones who have to pay, literally.
Atlas Quantum has subsequently disabled some of their features as the investigation continues.
Have you been affected by this breach? Let us know in the comments below!
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