Bitfinex‘s chief technology officer Paolo Ardoino dismissed claims by hacking group Fsociety that it hacked the cryptocurrency exchange’s database and leaked 22,500 customer emails and passwords.
Ardoino labeled the claims as “fake” and stated, “If they had any real information they would have asked a ransom through our bug bounty, customer support ticket, emails, Twitter, etc.
“We couldn’t find any request.” He emphasized that Bitfinex does not store plaintext passwords or 2FA secrets in clear text.
Out of the 22,500 records leaked, only 5,000 matched with Bitfinex users.
Ardoino suggested that the hackers likely obtained the data from other crypto data breaches, noting that many users use the same email and passwords across multiple sites.
A security researcher shared a message suggesting that the hackers might be using the claim to promote a data retrieval hacking tool.
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According to the researcher, such claims serve as advertisements for the tool, enticing others to purchase it for exploiting companies.
Ardoino reassured users that investigations were ongoing, but no breach had been detected, and all funds remained safe.
This incident isn’t the first time Bitfinex has faced scrutiny over data breaches.
In November 2023, a minor information security incident occurred when one of its customer support agents was hacked, leading to phishing attacks targeting Bitfinex users.
However, Bitfinex stated that little harm resulted from the incident.
In 2016, Bitfinex experienced a major security breach resulting in the loss of 119,576 customers’ Bitcoin, valued at around $70 million at the time, equivalent to approximately $7.6 billion at current prices.
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