Bitcoin exchange goes down after hack
In South Korea a bitcoin exchange has gone out of business after being hacked, majorly highlighted the perils of trying to cash on this ongoing year’s excellent boom in the digital currencies. Youbit, exchange was encountered failure after cyber-thieves who wrap around a 5th of its client’s data in an attack on Tuesday.
This year it’s the 2nd time that Youbit that allows customers to trade bitcoin & other digital currencies has been hit by the hackers. As per a source, in the month of April, thieves won 38 billion in digital currencies. But the company didn’t reveal that how much taken in the latest hacking or how exactly it happened.
On Wednesday, South Korean’s Korea internet and security agency said that it was working with police in order to investigate Youbit’s hack that happened this week, but they didn’t yet know who was responsible for it.
Youbit told that it’s customers would get back about three-quarters of the value of the digital currencies which they had stored in accounts with the exchange, while the rest will be refunded just after bankruptcy proceedings.
Bitcoin registered lowest profit after hack
Earlier this month, hackers stole nearly $70 million bitcoin’s from digital currency platform named as Nicehash. And last year, Bitfinex, a Hong Kong based exchange was shut down after hackers hack more than $60 million in bitcoins.
The director of threat intelligence at cybersecurity firm FireEye, the wellsmore said that bitcoin exchanges had been giving slower respond to the threats posted by the hackers. He even said that “As the prices of bitcoin & similar virtual currencies continue to appreciate, we positively expect more interest from attackers seeking to steal it.”
Bitcoin's price is now over 15 times as high as it was at the start of the year. Suspicion for this Youbit hack could fall on North Korea and reportedly, South Korean police have arrested North Korean hackers of targeting around four different exchanges this year which is responsible for trading bitcoin and other digital currencies in South Korea. However, North Korea has previously denied any part in international cyberattacks.
Bitcoin, which provides layers of anonymity, has long been a place for criminals. It is said that South Korea has become a major spot of bitcoin activity. The country can recorded for about 20 per cent of worldwide trading in cryptocurrency.
The digital currency is in such huge demand there that the traders can invest a premium amount of between 15 % & 20 % as compared with prices elsewhere. With several small South Korean investors investing into bitcoin, authorities are getting much worried about the potential impact of a hack.
