Upbit Hacked, $30 Million in Losses Reported
South Korea’s preeminent cryptocurrency exchange, Upbit, has revealed it fell victim to a cyberattack, incurring losses estimated at approximately $30 million.
The breach was uncovered when the platform noticed an unauthorized transfer of assets from the Solana network, totaling around 44.5 billion won, to an unidentified external wallet, as conveyed in a press release from the company [machine translated].
In light of the breach, Upbit has suspended all deposit and withdrawal activities and has transferred its assets to a secure cold wallet as a precaution.
This malicious act coincided peculiarly with an announcement from Naver Corp., the largest search engine in South Korea, regarding a colossal $10 billion all-stock transaction aimed at acquiring Dunamu, the parent company of Upbit.
This strategic move aims to bolster Naver’s foray into the realms of cryptocurrencies and financial technology.
Furthermore, Naver plans to allocate over 10 trillion won, exceeding $6.8 billion, to artificial intelligence and blockchain initiatives over the next five years, as reported by Bloomberg.
Naver’s CEO, Choi Soo-yeon, has expressed intentions to merge AI capabilities with cryptocurrency services and is actively pursuing significant acquisitions of Nvidia GPUs to facilitate this integration.
While this hack is notable, its scale pales in comparison to the staggering billions lost through cryptocurrency breaches earlier this year. For instance, ByBit suffered a loss of $1.5 billion in February due to an alleged infiltration by North Korean hackers.
Additionally, a subsequent insider breach at Coinbase accounted for $400 million in losses. Certain hacks have led to catastrophic consequences, with one of the most infamous being the Mt. Gox scandal, while another staggering $3.5 billion theft (equivalent to $14.5 billion today) likely precipitated the downfall of LuBian, once among the largest mining pools globally.
The repercussions of this event are unlikely to jeopardize the company’s operational viability or destabilize the $10 billion acquisition deal. Nevertheless, the timing is unfortunate, as it may instigate market trepidation and potentially trigger a decline in Naver’s stock.
Conversely, this incident has illuminated existing vulnerabilities in Upbit’s security protocols, offering the acquiring entity a vital opportunity to assess and fortify defenses against potential future incursions.
Source link: Tomshardware.com.
