Bitfinex announces that it has resolved a minor information security incident, discovered earlier this week.
A “small” portion of Bitfinex‘s customer support boards, which “held partial, incomplete and stale information was accessed by an individual or group, through the phishing of a customer support agent who did not have senior permissions and therefore had only limited access to supporting tools and helpdesk tickets.”
The firm claims that none of Bitfinex’s systems were “compromised and there was no loss of customer funds.” And no server, wallet or database infrastructure “was accessed.”
Law enforcement has reportedly “been notified.”
Bitfinex further claims that at no time were customer assets “on the platform at risk, nor was password information accessible.” Most of the affected customer accounts “were empty or inactive.”
They are continuing to “review the incident and the compromised information.”
They are in the process of “contacting all affected customers.”
Bitfinex says that it has “a very close relationship with law enforcement and will be working with investigation authorities to track down the perpetrator of this minor security incident.”
They further claim to “have a strong track record of securing successful convictions against individuals who have attempted to attack our operations in the past.”
Bitfinex states that it “regularly reviews its security procedures and all personnel are required to undergo mandatory cybersecurity training.”
Security incidents involving cryptocurrency services, decentralized exchanges, and smart contract platforms are increasingly common due to a wide range of reasons. At times, it is the exchange operator who may be at fault for not implementing adequate security measures. In many other cases, it’s simply the end-user who may have been a bit careless with how they manage their personal information.
It’s always advisable to carefully check the spelling of websites we visit and to never share any personal information with anyone (like seed phrases or other sensitive info such as passwords), regardless of the circumstances. It’s also worth noting that Bitfinex has experienced major security breaches in the past, resulting in massive losses such as the 2016 Bitfinex hack.