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So, my Coinbase account was hacked, bitcoin stolen, now what?

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Re: So, my Coinbase account was hacked, bitcoin stolen, now what?

#51

Post by tlrobinson »

chasing wrote: post #49
kordless wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why are you comparing Coinbase features with Bitcoin features?

Well, for example: My understanding is that if you bank with dollars (in the US), the FDIC insures your deposit up to a certain amount. A feature of the currency is also a feature of the bank holding that currency. It's hard to pull the two completely apart.

The purpose of FDIC insurance is to protect against bank runs due to the nature of the fractional reserve banking system (not a problem with Bitcoin, at least not yet), not to protect against hackers.

Now, whether Bitcoin services need stricter regulation in terms of security is another question. I don't think Coinbase goes far enough with their security yet (2FA on withdrawals seems like a no-brainer)

Re: So, my Coinbase account was hacked, bitcoin stolen, now what?

#52

Post by elwell »

yid wrote: post #35
elwell wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do you mean "random websites"? It's Coinbase, the most reputable bitcoin wallet that exists. (Though they have had a few troubles as of late.)

Until you can verify Coinbase's internal security and practices, trust every employee with access to your account info, and verify their honest intentions, it's still pretty much a "random website". Until then, you're effectively driving your Ferrari across the border into Tijuana and tossing the keys to a random barkeep.

So... any bank website is also 'random'?

Re: So, my Coinbase account was hacked, bitcoin stolen, now what?

#53

Post by whileonebegin »

collyw wrote: post #47

I see this sort of story being the downfall of bitcoin. Once a few of these things happen, trust will be lost in it and the bubble will deflate. (Out of interest, did you "make money" from bitcoin, when it was going up)

I agree, and that's why bitcoin needs accountability. If not bitcoin, then Coinbase. PayPal is a good example of this. For all of the flak they receive, you can trust them to honor reports of unauthorized transactions and feel (mostly) confident making purchases.

I'm very cautious now about considering bitcoin any further. I'm certainly glad I never linked a bank account to Coinbase.

Re: So, my Coinbase account was hacked, bitcoin stolen, now what?

#54

Post by aragot »

elwell wrote: post #52
yid wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Until you can verify Coinbase's internal security and practices, trust every employee with access to your account info, and verify their honest intentions, it's still pretty much a "random website". Until then, you're effectively driving your Ferrari across the border into Tijuana and tossing the keys to a random barkeep.

So... any bank website is also 'random'?

I would downvote this comment for trolling if I had the permission.

Re: So, my Coinbase account was hacked, bitcoin stolen, now what?

#55

Post by Sae5waip »

elwell wrote: post #52
yid wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Until you can verify Coinbase's internal security and practices, trust every employee with access to your account info, and verify their honest intentions, it's still pretty much a "random website". Until then, you're effectively driving your Ferrari across the border into Tijuana and tossing the keys to a random barkeep.

So... any bank website is also 'random'?

No, bank websites are bank websites.

And bank websites are operated by banks.

And banks are regulated by governments.

Re: So, my Coinbase account was hacked, bitcoin stolen, now what?

#56

Post by aragot »

bdcravens wrote: post #42

A hacker can simply break into your account, steal your bitcoin by sending it off to his own account, and no one has to hold any type of accountability? Is there no way to trace, cancel, or reverse a transaction? It would seem that you understand Bitcoin very well. A review of all of the hacks/breakins/inside jobs since 2011 would have told you this already. You DID research its history, rather than jumping in blind,…

All the theory about currencies and macro- and microeconomy and libertarianism are available in books. But people really like to learn the hard way.

There are a few rules about trustworthiness in economy. Our whole economic system is held together because one rogue actor would be rejected by all its partners if it failed a transaction, and the person wouldn't be able to create a new company if they acted unfairly. This peer-to-peer network is also backed by trade unions, then banks, then governments who vouch for each other.

By trusting Coinbase, a single actor in a very small economy, you have very little leverage, except talking about your mistake on HN and trying to get the consumer's snowball effect. It is not backed by its trade union, nor by its banks, insurances or government.

Don't forget that Bitcoin is a token game which is parallel to your national currency, and allows bypassing taxes. Bitcoins should get what they deserve: As a subversive currency allowing to bypass taxes, it should be fought by governments. Receiving money for a Blizzard account is just as illegal. Because it's a parallel economy which prevents taxes from being duly collected.

I'm not to say that I'm on the governments side, nor on the Bitcoin side. I'm saying they are competing and proponents of one side should be rejected by the other side.

Givn this background, you losing 0.12 BTC is a very mild outcome.

Re: So, my Coinbase account was hacked, bitcoin stolen, now what?

#57

Post by FireBeyond »

RyanZAG wrote: post #23

Hilarious. The reason for bitcoin is lack of regulation. You know that right? You're using bitcoins and not dollars because it's not regulated and subject to the same oversights and related fees. So basically you want the government to have no ability to lock down funds or regulate transfers, yet you also want the ability for the government to step in and stop people who have stolen your bitcoins. Can people really b…

Downthread, the poster states that he used the same email and password as for his Twitter account, which was recently hacked...

Re: So, my Coinbase account was hacked, bitcoin stolen, now what?

#59

Post by Aqueous »

v64 wrote: post #43
Aqueous wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, in my view CoinBase with two factor auth is as or more secure than leaving it on my physical computer. If this person had enabled two factor auth this wouldn't have happened. I was under the impression that 2 factor auth on CoinBase wasn't optional, but I guess not. CoinBase should also be failbanning any computer trying to brute force the same account with more than one password.

Because you can withdraw your coins from Coinbase, that means Coinbase has a copy of the private key associated with the BTC address that your BTC resides in. Two factor auth is not going to prevent a rogue attacker or employee from taking these keys. By immediately transferring the BTC to a paper wallet address generated on a secure, offline computer, it is simply impossible to withdraw the BTC without possession of…

I mean, I've given them the ability to withdraw money from my bank account so merely trading on CoinBase requires me to believe they won't do that or anything like that. The fact of the matter is that I don't trust CoinBase, but I know that our interests are somewhat aligned. If they damage their reputation by stealing my BitCoins or my cash they lose money because people don't trust them any more. They are backed by people I consider to be reputable and if CoinBase does something shady all of their reputations will suffer.

Re: So, my Coinbase account was hacked, bitcoin stolen, now what?

#60

Post by DanielRuskin »

v64 wrote: post #43
Aqueous wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, in my view CoinBase with two factor auth is as or more secure than leaving it on my physical computer. If this person had enabled two factor auth this wouldn't have happened. I was under the impression that 2 factor auth on CoinBase wasn't optional, but I guess not. CoinBase should also be failbanning any computer trying to brute force the same account with more than one password.

Because you can withdraw your coins from Coinbase, that means Coinbase has a copy of the private key associated with the BTC address that your BTC resides in. Two factor auth is not going to prevent a rogue attacker or employee from taking these keys. By immediately transferring the BTC to a paper wallet address generated on a secure, offline computer, it is simply impossible to withdraw the BTC without possession of…

While this is a legitimate concern, it is not relevant to what happened here - the OP didn't enable 2FA and used the same password on his Twitter account (which was also compromised).
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