- Coinbase discovered the security breach in January and did not make it known to customers until May, which has raised doubts about transparency and how they dealt with the issue.
- A TaskUs staff member was found offering customer information for sale, revealing some dangers linked to letting customer support tasks be handled by outsiders.
- The investigation revealed a larger cyberattack campaign using Coinbase’s data, so around 200 employees were dismissed.
Many are upset with Coinbase, one of the biggest exchanges in the US, after reports showed it knew about a major hack in January but failed to act. Until May, the company kept quiet about the incident, which made many people worry about transparency and how their data was protected. Certain sources mentioned by Reuters say that the failure to announce for four weeks has raised concerns among the public and regulators.
An Employee Saw Taking Pictures of Private Company Data
A contractor called TaskUs, based in India, caused the breach in security. An employee was discovered stealing photographs from her computer screen. Sensitive customer information from Coinbase was part of the compromised images. The purpose seemed to be fundraising by selling the data illegally on the dark web.
The incidents were found not to be single cases. It was incorporated into an overall campaign that involved more than one worker. TaskUs took the step of ending about 200 jobs as a response to the incident. Because of this case, many people started to see Coinbase’s decision to delegate customer support and access to sensitive user information as a bigger issue.
Adam Cochran, who works at Cinneamhain Ventures, made public comments about how Coinbase relies more on contractors than professionally trained staff. He pointed out that giving crucial functions to other partners would make the company less safe and answerable for its actions. Many in the industry are concerned about cost-cutting steps that put customer trust and security at risk.
Total Loss is Estimated at $400M and also Brings Regulatory Risk
Coinbase believes that the breach could bring losses of up to $400 million to the business. It might also require new compensating financial arrangements and upgraded security measures. Because of this, regulators may investigate Coinbase to find out how they managed the breach and responded to members of the public.
The reports also reveal that the hackers contacted the airline demanding $20 million to cover up the hack or else they would share the stolen information with the media. Instead of obeying the threat, Coinbase decided to take care of the problem internally and talk about it publicly afterwards.
