GateHub Gets Hacked, $9.5 Million in XRP Stolen

Friday, 07/06/2019 | 06:38 GMT by Arnab Shome
  • Investigators still could not confirm the methods used in the attack.
GateHub Gets Hacked, $9.5 Million in XRP Stolen
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Hackers have siphoned 23.2 million Ripple coins (XRP), worth around $9.5 million, from GateHub cryptocurrency wallets.

Confirmed by the platform on Thursday, the cybercriminals compromised around 100 XRP Ledger wallets on the platform.

According to GateHub, the hackers used API calls to carry out the attack, however, details of the attack are still unknown, and the platform is still investigating on the matter.

“API requests to the victim’s accounts were all authorized with a valid access token. There were no suspicious logins detected, nor there were any signs of brute forcing,” the official statement noted.

“We have however detected an increased amount of API calls (with valid access tokens) coming from a small number of IP addresses which might be how the perpetrator gained access to encrypted secret keys.”

The suspicious API calls stopped when the platform disabled access to the tokens on June 1, GateHub detailed.

The platform has also involved law enforcement agencies to continue its investigation on the attack.

Tracked down attackers

A contributor in the XRP Forensics published a report on June 5 mentioning some details about the theft including 12 suspected wallet accounts involved in the attack with their transaction details.

“As of writing this report, 2019-06-05 16:00 UTC, we gather that ~23,200,000 XRP has been stolen from 80-90 victims, of which ~13,100,000 XRP have already been laundered through exchanges and mixer services,” Thomas Silkjær, a member of XRP Forensics and the researcher on the case, stated.

Similar to GateHub’s in-house investigators, Silkjær even could not pinpoint the exact method used by the attackers to siphon the digital coins.

Hacking to steal customer’s funds have become very common on the crypto platforms. Last month, crypto Exchange Binance was hacked, resulting in the theft of 7,000 Bitcoins, then worth $41 million.

Hackers have siphoned 23.2 million Ripple coins (XRP), worth around $9.5 million, from GateHub cryptocurrency wallets.

Confirmed by the platform on Thursday, the cybercriminals compromised around 100 XRP Ledger wallets on the platform.

According to GateHub, the hackers used API calls to carry out the attack, however, details of the attack are still unknown, and the platform is still investigating on the matter.

“API requests to the victim’s accounts were all authorized with a valid access token. There were no suspicious logins detected, nor there were any signs of brute forcing,” the official statement noted.

“We have however detected an increased amount of API calls (with valid access tokens) coming from a small number of IP addresses which might be how the perpetrator gained access to encrypted secret keys.”

The suspicious API calls stopped when the platform disabled access to the tokens on June 1, GateHub detailed.

The platform has also involved law enforcement agencies to continue its investigation on the attack.

Tracked down attackers

A contributor in the XRP Forensics published a report on June 5 mentioning some details about the theft including 12 suspected wallet accounts involved in the attack with their transaction details.

“As of writing this report, 2019-06-05 16:00 UTC, we gather that ~23,200,000 XRP has been stolen from 80-90 victims, of which ~13,100,000 XRP have already been laundered through exchanges and mixer services,” Thomas Silkjær, a member of XRP Forensics and the researcher on the case, stated.

Similar to GateHub’s in-house investigators, Silkjær even could not pinpoint the exact method used by the attackers to siphon the digital coins.

Hacking to steal customer’s funds have become very common on the crypto platforms. Last month, crypto Exchange Binance was hacked, resulting in the theft of 7,000 Bitcoins, then worth $41 million.

About the Author: Arnab Shome
Arnab Shome
  • 6569 Articles
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About the Author: Arnab Shome
Arnab is an electronics engineer-turned-financial editor. He entered the industry covering the cryptocurrency market for Finance Magnates and later expanded his reach to forex as well. He is passionate about the changing regulatory landscape on financial markets and keenly follows the disruptions in the industry with new-age technologies.
  • 6569 Articles
  • 91 Followers

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