Binance cryptocurrency exchange data leaks
Twitter has been boiling with the news about Binance cryptocurrency exchange data leaks. The information has it that over sixty thousand Binance users who did their KYC in from February 2018 onwards might have been affected by this hack. KYC is a standard procedure for exchanges in other to help them know their customers.
The CEO of Binance, Changpeng Zhao, however, took to Twitter to comment on the Binance cryptocurrency exchange data leaks. According to a tweet from his verified handle, he asked people not to fall into the KYC Fud as investigations were ongoing.
Below is the full tweet “Don’t fall into the “KYC leak” FUD. We are investigating, will update shortly.”
Binance cryptocurrency exchange data leaks: Binance Reacts
After hours of the Binance cryptocurrency exchange data leaks news outbreak, Binance later issued an official statement on the issue. The statement states that an unknown person has threatened Binance to leak 10,000 personal photos of customers if Binance exchange does not pay this person 300 bitcoins (BTC).
After the exchange refused to accept extortion, this person started to leak the data to the public and the media. Binance indicates, however, that there are inconsistencies in the data because the data lacks a watermark that the photos in the Binance system have.
It is worthy of note that it was a third-party vendor that was in charge of the binance exchange KYC during the period of the said incident. Binance, in their statement, made it clear that investigations were currently ongoing to pinpoint the source of the hack.
Keeping their investigation aside, Binance has also promised to pay up to 25 BTC for any valuable information that can help them to identify the person behind the hack. The price depends on the usefulness of the information. The information can be shared using a support ticket via this link https://support.binance.com/.
The data is currently being leaked into a Telegram group. The group is growing enormously and now has more than 10,000 members. An anonymous person created the group, and the group was named “Guardian M.” So far, the group has posted over a hundred pictures of different people holding a piece of paper just next to their ID card as required for Binance KYC verification. The group claims that all the images are as a result of the Binance cryptocurrency exchange data leaks (hack).
The Ceo of Binance has pleaded with people to simply report and exit the group rather than sharing the link. He made the request via a tweet on his official Twitter handle. Below is an extract of the tweet.
“would like to add, by joining or spreading the link of the telegram group, you are helping malicious hackers (at least giving attention). What we should do as an industry is to fight them. Stay on the positive side. Report the group, then leave.”
Binance cryptocurrency exchange data leaks Authenticity
A lot of people are questioning the authenticity of the Binance cryptocurrency exchange data leaks. This lead CoinDesk to reach out to victims whose photos were used as part of the leaks. The first two victims confirmed to CoinDesk that they actually used those photos during their KYC procedure and one of them even showed CoinDesk his login history. They all pleaded to remain anonymous in this process.
It is widely believed that this leak might be related to the hack that took a whopping seven thousand (7,000) Bitcoin in May 2018.
Apart from the Binance cryptocurrency exchange data leaks, the Binance Charity Foundation was also under fire. The charity branch of the exchange was questioned when it appeared that promised donations had not yet been paid out.
Despite the few setbacks, Binance Exchange still remains the biggest Cryptocurrency exchange in terms of trading volume in the sector.
Check out how to earn free cryptocurrency, read on our blockchain article and how bitcoin circulating supply article.
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