A Slovenia-based mining exchange, NiceHash was hacked on Wednesday the 6th and stole around 4,700 Bitcoins (equivalent to approx. $75 million at the time of hack).
As per Marko Kobal, the attackers accessed the company’s systems at 1.18 local Slovenian time. The hackers are believed to be based outside the European Union, had started stealing Bitcoin by 03:37. As per the reports hackers stole around 4,700 Bitcoin which is worth approximately $75m to $80m from NiceHash. Bitcoin mining pool miners lost their chunk of money for approximating a week all over the world.
NiceHash is a digital currency marketplace and a mining service company started in 2014 which pairs up people with spare computing power and matches people looking to sell their processing time on their computers and willing to pay to use it for mining new Bitcoin as well as verifies bitcoin users’ transactions in exchange for the bitcoin. Issues started with the site over the previous days and so drew alert and dissensions, with numerous bitcoin proprietors posting panicked remarks on NiceHash’s online networking accounts.
In the reply to its customer; NiceHash website said:
“Our payment system was compromised and the contents of the NiceHash Bitcoin wallet have been stolen. We are working to verify the precise number of BTC taken. Clearly, this is a matter of deep concern and we are working hard to rectify the matter in the coming days. In addition to undertaking our own investigation, the incident has been reported to the relevant authorities and law enforcement and we are co-operating with them as a matter of urgency.”
Nicehask miner’s reaction –
The organization was intensely reprimanded by its clients who remarked in large numbers on Facebook. Correspondences were confused further when a spoof Facebook page for the organization was set up and spreading disinformation about the hacking.
Then, Mr. Kobal, founder of NiceHash, appeared on Facebook Live to address on concerns about the hack, explained that an employee’s computer was compromised in the attack. He added that “forensic analysis” involving local and international authorities was taking place, but did not explain on which specific agencies were involved in the infamous hacking.
The hack appears to be similar to mtGox of 2014 where thousands of investors all over the world lost money which is even talked about today. With the increased penetration of cryptocurrency, these companies must take security seriously and ensure all appropriate security controls and measures are in place to protect their customers.
