Hacked: User Data Leaked From Brazilian Crypto Arbitrage Platform, Funds Reportedly Safe

Brazilian ‘arbitrage’ firm Atlas has reportedly been hacked and the email addresses belonging to its over 264,000 users have been leaked. The company’s users’ phone numbers and the amount of cryptocurrency they have deposited on the platform have also now been shared publicly by the hacker(s).

According to a Youtube video posted by Investimentos Digitais on August 25, Atlas’ crypto platform has approximately 14,500 registered users with a total of 5,813 bitcoin (BTC) deposited in it, an amount currently valued at over $39 million according to CryptoCompare data.

Brazil’s crypto news website, Portal Do Bitcoin, noted the company’s management had confirmed on Facebook that their platform was hacked. However, its operators also said that its users’ funds were not stolen during the security breach.

$39 Million In BTC Held On The Platform

The local crypto news outlet claims to have investigated the hacking incident by contacting one of the company’s users who had reportedly deposited 21 BTC on the digital currency platform. Per the Brazilian news agency, the leaked list of Atlas’ customers, which was verified by the user, does reveal how much cryptocurrency each user has.

Notably, the list shows that Atlas itself owns 792 BTC, while the user holding the most bitcoins on the compromised platform has 205 BTC in their account. Other users on the list include Rocelo Lopes, who’s the owner CoinBr.net – the largest bitcoin, ether, and dash miner in Latin America.

Commenting on the security breach, Atlas’ operators said, 

“We became aware early on Saturday night that a security incident involving the leakage of data from our customers occurred. We are conducting an investigation with our information security advisor to understand the incident in more detail and we will cooperate with the appropriate authorities.”

The crypto platform’s management also clarified and confirmed that the digital currency deposited with them had not been stolen due to the hack. Atlas’ managers did, however, acknowledge that all their customers’ private information had been leaked.

Additional Security Measures

Responding immediately to the hack, Atlas noted it took the necessary measures to make sure their users’ private keys and digital assets remained safe. At press time, Atlas’ technical team is reportedly monitoring the leaked accounts, while also working on implementing additional security measures to protect its users against theft or fraud.

As most crypto enthusiasts would know, cryptocurrency businesses have now been hacked numerous times, which has often resulted in large amounts of digital currency being stolen. Cybersecurity firm Group-IB recently published a research report in which it revealed that, in many cases, the hacked crypto exchanges cannot be blamed entirely for the security breaches.

Group-IB’s crypto cyberattack analysis report noted that digital currency accounts are often hacked due to “underestimating cybercriminals” by “disregarding” basic security measures such as creating complex passwords. Most of the hacked accounts Group-IB examined had easy-to-remember passwords and had not enabled two-factor authentication.