Bithumb performs large exchanges of Bitcoins and Ethereums in South Korea. Monetary losses as a result of the hacking have reached billions of Wons. Bithumb is the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world. It commands a 75 percent share in cryptocurrency market by volumes. It also hosts over 13,000 Bitcoin volume tradings worth $34 million, this accounts for 10 percent of the world's Bitcoin trades. 4 percent of Ether trading in South Korea is also done on its website.

Money stolen

The cyber attack that led to the loss of more than a billion Won occurred last week.

According to the Kyunghyang Shinmun, a local newspaper based in Seoul, one victim lost Bitcoins worth 1.2 billion Won which is equivalent to $1 million.

Hackers succeeded in the attack by stealing customers information such as email addresses, names, and mobile phone numbers. The website discovered the incident on June 29 and reported to the authorities a day later. Complaints by more than 100 customers of the exchange site have recorded complaints at the countries cyber crime reporting center.

Bithumb.com admits being hacked

The website has so far admitted being hacked while customers have complained that hackers have emptied their digital currency wallets. The website has claimed that the attack was made on a computer that belonged to an employee.

In a statement released by the site, the management of the company said that "the attack occurred on an employee's Personal Computer and the firm's server was not hacked. Customer information such as email addresses, names, and mobile phone numbers were lost. The disposable password that is used in electronic monetary transactions was the main reason as to why customer information and funds were lost."

In another notice to customers, the company stated that "Bithumb will pay up to 100,000 Won (U.S $86) per affected customer while further compensation will be considered after the confirmation of losses incurred by each customer."

How the hack occurred

Scammers appeared to have called some victims one at a time by posting as employees of Bithumb.

One customer claimed to have been called by a hacker who informed him of a foreign transaction on his account that was suspicious. The victim was instructed to issue the hacker a "One-Time Password" that was sent to him from Bithumb. After giving the password, the hacker accessed the victim's account and stole 10 million Won (U.S $ 8,600).

Compensation and handling of this matter will be complicated due to the lack of regulation of digital currencies in South Korea. It is still not known whether U.S customers use the site and whether or not they have been affected.
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED