<p>Canadian <a href=”https://www.financemagnates.com/terms/c/cryptocurrency-exchange/” target=”_blank” id=”601e2e5f-0c28-4253-9ad4-5e6b251ba2fa_1″ class=”terms__main-term”>cryptocurrency exchange</a>, Coinsquare has become the latest victim of a security breach that resulted in compromised users’ personal details, the platform confirmed last weekend by sending an email to its customers.</p><p>The exchange detailed that the <a href=”https://www.financemagnates.com/tag/hack/” target=”_blank”>breach</a> exposed “customer names, email addresses, residential addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth, device IDs, public wallet addresses, transaction history, and account balances.”</p><p>However, the crypto exchange reported some “unusual activity on our platform” on November 19 and underwent unscheduled maintenance. Then, the exchange did not detail if it was a security breach. It also restored full service on Friday ahead of sending emails to costumes about the security breach.</p><blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>Earlier this morning, we detected unusual activity on our platform and out of an abundance of caution, we decided to undergo an unscheduled maintenance period while we address this issue.</p>— Coinsquare (@Coinsquare) <a href=”https://twitter.com/Coinsquare/status/1594024708097179648?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>November 19, 2022</a></blockquote><p>Digital Assets Are Safe</p><p>The email sent to the Coinsquae users also highlighted that the security breach did not affect the passwords and held customers’ digital assets.</p><p>”No passwords were exposed. We have no evidence any of this information was viewed by the bad actor,” the email stated, adding: “We note that your assets have always been, and remain, secure in <a href=”https://www.financemagnates.com/terms/c/cold-storage/” target=”_blank” id=”02d7b480-5954-4c1d-a1e2-4a509c3d07b5_1″ class=”terms__secondary-term”>cold storage</a> and are not at risk.”</p><blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>We want to reiterate that 100% of client funds are safely held in cold storage and are not used for business activities</p>— Coinsquare (@Coinsquare) <a href=”https://twitter.com/Coinsquare/status/1594125065234309120?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>November 20, 2022</a></blockquote><p>However, a breach of personal information can also result in more severe individual account targeting. These generally make identity theft and fraud much more accessible. A similar data breach of Australian telecom service provider <a href=”https://www.financemagnates.com/forex/optus-hack-asic-warns-market-intermediaries-against-possible-fraud/” target=”_blank”>Optus</a> earlier this year prompted the country’s financial market watchdog to warn financial brokers of the rising risks of identity theft.</p><p>The Canadian exchange further cautioned the users to change their passwords and enable two-factor authentication (2FA) to ensure safety.</p><p>Coinsquare touts itself to be “Canada’s trusted platform to securely buy, sell and trade Bitcoin, Ethereum, and more” and received registration from the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) a month before.</p><p>The security incident with the exchange happened when the crypto industry was reeling from the effects of the <a href=”https://www.financemagnates.com/tag/ftx/” target=”_blank”>FTX</a> collapse. The initial “unscheduled maintenance” of Coinsquare also raised speculation of possible liquidity issues. However, the confirmation of the security breach ruled out those concerns.</p><p>Earlier this month, now-collapsed cryptocurrency platform <a href=”https://www.financemagnates.com/cryptocurrency/ftx-hacked-1bn-drained-from-ftx-and-ftx-us-accounts-so-far/” target=”_blank”>FTX was hacked</a>, resulting in the theft of at least $1 billion worth of cryptocurrencies. The exchange and its other more than 130 affiliates have now filed for bankruptcy protection in the United States.</p>
This article was written by Arnab Shome at www.financemagnates.com.
