On November 15, the South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Coinone warned its customers to be on guard against phishing scams and identity theft. Hackers compromised the servers of MetaM, the exchange’s outsourced customer service provider, on November 14, and Coinone discovered the incident on the same day.
Scope of the Data Breach and Risks to Customers
According to a Coinone announcement, the customer service records accessed or extracted by hackers may contain the following potentially compromised information: customer names, phone numbers, email addresses, dates of birth, bank account numbers, passwords, ID numbers, addresses, wallet addresses, and transaction IDs. The exchange stated that the leaked data varies by customer, and users who have never contacted the customer service center are not affected by this incident. Coinone did not disclose the exact number of affected customers.
Exchange Security and Countermeasures
Coinone emphasized that its account, trading, and wallet infrastructure operate on independent servers that are physically isolated from MetaM’s systems, and there is no evidence of a direct breach. The exchange has reported this security incident to South Korean authorities. To protect customers, Coinone urges users who have shared their passwords during customer service interactions to change their passwords immediately, while also warning that scammers may use personal information from previous customer service conversations to impersonate the exchange and carry out fraudulent activities.
Strengthening of the Regulatory Environment and Industry Safety
This data breach occurred as South Korea is pushing to strengthen cybersecurity in the financial sector. In October, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) found security vulnerabilities at 130 of the 555 financial institutions it audited. On November 14, regulators announced that they would allow cryptocurrency exchanges to suspend withdrawals when a hack is suspected and called for round-the-clock monitoring. This move reflects the regulatory authorities’ growing emphasis on security measures for cryptocurrency trading platforms.
Further Reading
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