Clients’ Funds Not Affected by Atlas Hack but Personal Data of More Than 260,000 Users Stolen

2018-9-1 15:59

The cryptocurrency industry is a favorite target of cybercriminals. This time, it was the Brazilian crypto investment platform Atlas that was targeted and eventually breached by hackers. The good news is that funds of clients are reported to be safe, but the bad news is that personal information of around 260,000 platform users has been leaked. The alarming part is that customer names, contact details and balances were included in the information stolen by the cybercriminals.

Atlas Says No Bitcoins Were Stolen

It was the YouTube channel Investimentos Digitais that first reported the Atlas hacking incident via a video, which was posted on Aug. 25. Various media outlets later reported the extent of the breach, which thankfully did not involve any financial loss for Atlas clients.

Unfortunately, hackers were able to steal a huge amount of personal data via the hack. While various media outlets slightly vary in their estimates on the number of affected accounts, all agree that more than 260,000 clients had their personal information compromised, according to a report by Unhashed.

The incident was later confirmed by Atlas via a post made on its Facebook page on Sunday, Aug. 26. The company confirmed that its customer database was exposed. It ensures, however, that no Bitcoin was stolen during the incident. Said Atlas on its Facebook post:

“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.”

Withdrawal Feature Now Active But Processing Time Is Longer

Initially, Atlas announced that it has disabled some of the features of the platform as a precaution. It also monitored the accounts affected by the hack.

Later, on Aug. 28, the company announced that it has temporarily suspended the platform’s withdrawal function to ensure safety and prevent potential fraud attempts by the hacker who might use the stolen customer data to fool the system. However, Atlas posted an update on Aug. 29, saying that customers can already make withdrawals during business hours. However, there will be an additional three-day processing period for withdrawals as part of the company’s additional security procedures.

Addresses, Account Balances Part of Stolen Data, but Password Remains Secure

While no customer funds have been touched during the hack, Atlas admitted that personal data, including customers’ names, emails, phones, and balances had been compromised. The fund, however, asserts that the hackers did not gain access to other more sensitive data such as passwords as they were encrypted. According to Atlas:

“We believe that an unauthorized party has misrepresented information about our customers’ names, e-mails, phones, and balances. All other data, such as passwords, is encrypted and secure. There was no access or commitment of the funds in our custody.”

Despite the safety of their funds, Atlas customers should remain vigilant after the hack. With identity theft cases on the rise, the stolen information could be used by the hackers to impersonate the owners online. The Atlas hacking incident is particularly alarming since names, contact details and the balances of their accounts maintained with Atlas have been compromised, making them potential targets for criminals.

Clients’ Funds Not Affected by Atlas Hack but Personal Data of More Than 260,000 Users Stolen was originally found on [blokt] - Blockchain, Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

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