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Coinbase says hackers bribed staff to steal customer data, demanding $20M ransom

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Re: Coinbase says hackers bribed staff to steal customer data, demanding $20M ransom

#431

Post by anonzzzies »

snodnipper wrote: post #421
stringsandchars wrote: post #418

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This may seem callous, but isn't a large point of crypto that you are 'free' from the shackles imposed by the State? And I guess that includes protection from criminals by the oppressive forces of the State (aka the police). In which case being kidnapped and having your fingers sent to your family is an integral part of your 'freedom'.

It seems that law-abiding citizens often bear the greatest risk by declaring their assets to tax authorities and relying on so-called "trusted custodians" for savings. Ironically, for many, the safest course of action is likely non-disclosure, though this is, of course, illegal in much of the world.

I only have to declare crypto < 1 year in my holding which means that, while technically illegal to buy 1 second after the new tax year start and not declaring it, in practice, obviously, no-one cares about that. Especially as crypto is not a 1 second buy; it can take hours.

Re: Coinbase says hackers bribed staff to steal customer data, demanding $20M ransom

#432

Post by em500 »

bambax wrote: post #413
lm28469 wrote: post #408

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> •Name, address, phone, and email;\ > blackmail each individual user Blackmail would be the least of my worries, in France we had at least five kidnappings/attempted kidnappings related to crypto investors since the beginning of the year.

Yes that's true but it's weird they only focus on crypto investors' families? There are many rich people in France, what's the deal with cryptobros?

Crypto is advertised as providing irreversible transfers, and having ownership of assets solely established by ownership of keys. It shouldn't be surprising that such features would attract criminals.

Re: Coinbase says hackers bribed staff to steal customer data, demanding $20M ransom

#433

Post by OsrsNeedsf2P »

stringsandchars wrote: post #418
lm28469 wrote: post #408

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> •Name, address, phone, and email;\ > blackmail each individual user Blackmail would be the least of my worries, in France we had at least five kidnappings/attempted kidnappings related to crypto investors since the beginning of the year.

This may seem callous, but isn't a large point of crypto that you are 'free' from the shackles imposed by the State? And I guess that includes protection from criminals by the oppressive forces of the State (aka the police). In which case being kidnapped and having your fingers sent to your family is an integral part of your 'freedom'.

> isn't a large point of crypto that you are 'free' from the shackles imposed by the State?

That's what people say, but it's probably not true given everyone leaves their coins on exchanges.

Re: Coinbase says hackers bribed staff to steal customer data, demanding $20M ransom

#434

Post by bdangubic »

VectorLock wrote: post #386
bdangubic wrote: post #372

Earlier quoted context omitted.

it is super fucking easy. it has been a decade since I answered an unknown number. if plumber calls (and I dont have her/his number stored) it goes to voicemail. I then call known company number. The communication is always one-way, I call you. I never answer. You follow this one very simple rule and you good :)

Theres plenty of situations where this doesn't work. If you're called from a business central line and you don't know their extension you just call back and get the normal call tree which can take you forever to get through. Or if you're on the "cancellation list" for an appointment if they can't get through to you, they don't wait for you to call back, they just go on to the next person to schedule in their open slo…

it always works mate, it always works

Re: Coinbase says hackers bribed staff to steal customer data, demanding $20M ransom

#435

Post by cmcaleer »

stringsandchars wrote: post #418
lm28469 wrote: post #408

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> •Name, address, phone, and email;\ > blackmail each individual user Blackmail would be the least of my worries, in France we had at least five kidnappings/attempted kidnappings related to crypto investors since the beginning of the year.

This may seem callous, but isn't a large point of crypto that you are 'free' from the shackles imposed by the State? And I guess that includes protection from criminals by the oppressive forces of the State (aka the police). In which case being kidnapped and having your fingers sent to your family is an integral part of your 'freedom'.

This may be surprising, but I actually don't think opting for a payment method with less consumer protections (that I pay cap gains tax on when if I dispose of it for a profit) is me ceding my right to be protected by the police. You're right that it does seem extremely callous and is honestly a disturbing mindset to have. Hopefully you never experience terror like the victims of the last few months in France experienced in your life.

Re: Coinbase says hackers bribed staff to steal customer data, demanding $20M ransom

#436

Post by koakuma-chan »

olalonde wrote: post #427

Brian Armstrong (Coinbase CEO) posted a video about this today: https://x.com/brian_armstrong/status/1922967787309256807

"But customer support agents do have access to personal information like name, date of birth, address, et cetera"

Apparently "et cetera" includes photos of my ID? Why do they even keep it?

Re: Coinbase says hackers bribed staff to steal customer data, demanding $20M ransom

#437

Post by cmcaleer »

svara wrote: post #429
bambax wrote: post #413

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes that's true but it's weird they only focus on crypto investors' families? There are many rich people in France, what's the deal with cryptobros?

Guessing their profits are regularly illegal or untaxed, so they're less likely to involve the police.

Seems unlikely given who has been targeted. I doubt the Ledger or Paymium guys have been evading tax on crypto given that they're publicly involved in it and likely would be scrutinised more than the average person by tax authorities.

Re: Coinbase says hackers bribed staff to steal customer data, demanding $20M ransom

#438

Post by asim »

skybrian wrote: post #430
asim wrote: post #409

Assuming they will have to inform the individuals who's data was actually breached/taken? Or is this basically the entire customer base? In which case that is VERY bad.

Their blog post says they notified affected users yesterday: https://www.coinbase.com/blog/protecting-our-customers-stand...

From the sounds of it, this is limited to US customers? Just going by the mention of social security number which does not exist in other countries like the UK.

Re: Coinbase says hackers bribed staff to steal customer data, demanding $20M ransom

#439

Post by rsynnott »

dachris wrote: post #387
panarky wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you had any significant assets on Coinbase at any time prior to this breach, spear phishing is the least of your worries. Coinbase not only leaked your full name and address, they also gave up your balances, your transaction history, and images of your government identification. People with "significant" crypto balances are being assaulted on the street and in their own homes, and family members are being kidnappe…

Why is this such an issue with crypto? Wealth status is often very well known for public figures and entrepreneurs. People are driving around in $200k cars. Is it due to the liquidity of cryptocurrencies that $5 wrench attacks work better?

If you're kidnapping a generic very rich person, how are you expecting them to pay the ransom, a big burlap sack of cash? There's a lot that can go wrong there. A bank transfer or other conventional financial instrument? Few criminals would be comfortable with that approach. (John Grisham novels, and 'Archer's beloved bearer bonds, aside, it's virtually impossible to make this untraceable). Magic internet money is presumably far less messy.

Also, a decent proportion of crypto-millionaires came by their riches in... not entirely above-board ways (in particular, securities fraud; all those pump and dump scamcoins are paying off for _someone_), and may be reluctant to involve the authorities. And the crypto industry as a whole is unusually comfortable with extortion; hacked crypto companies paying a kind of bounty to hackers to get the rest of the funds back is a common thing.

Re: Coinbase says hackers bribed staff to steal customer data, demanding $20M ransom

#440

Post by cmcaleer »

koakuma-chan wrote: post #436
olalonde wrote: post #427

Brian Armstrong (Coinbase CEO) posted a video about this today: https://x.com/brian_armstrong/status/1922967787309256807

"But customer support agents do have access to personal information like name, date of birth, address, et cetera" Apparently "et cetera" includes photos of my ID? Why do they even keep it?

The more alarming part for me is that, given the scale of the breach, there was clearly some way for this CS access to (a) query and download data from a database and (b) exfil that data in bulk. Where on earth were the controls?
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