Top crypto marketplace hacked after cloud provider attacked

Around $200 million worth of cryptocurrencies has reportedly been stolen after the cloud service provider used by a cryptocurrency network was hacked.

The news was confirmed on Saturday by the victim – Mixin Network, which said in a Twitter thread that unnamed threat actors attacked the company’s cloud service providers and managed to steal the funds.

While the company suspended deposit and withdrawal services in response to the incident, transfers within the network are not affected.

Price reacts

Although Mixin did not specifically state which cloud provider it was using, it said it contacted Google, and blockchain security company Slow Mist, to assist with the investigation.

The company expects to reopen its services once the vulnerabilities used in this attack are discovered and remedied. Addressing the assets lost in the attack, the company said it would announce the solution “afterward”.

“We will try our best to minimize the losses and deeply apologize for this. Thank you, everyone, for your continuous support,” the company added.

The network’s native token, XIN, dropped on the news, going from a high of $208 on the day before the incident to $189 after the news, representing a drop of roughly 9%. Even though cryptocurrencies are inherently volatile, 9% in a day is still a major decline.

Cryptocurrency networks and bridges are a popular target among cybercriminals. Even state-sponsored actors, such as Lazarus Group, often go for crypto projects and later use the stolen money to fund weapons programs and other cyberattack campaigns. Cryptocurrencies are also at the very center of every ransomware attack, as the threat actors exclusively demand ransom payments in digital currencies.

Via BleepingComputer