A Japanese news outlet has pointed the finger at Russian hackers for committing the worlds largest cryptocurrency exchange platform theft.
The hack of Coincheck of cryptocurrencies valued at around $530 million shook the crypto world back in January 2018 and remains today the largest ever, surpassing even the Mt. Gox hack of 2014. However, for years, while no-one has known the perpetrator, the common consensus was that it had been committed by North Korean cybercriminals. That was until today when Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun stated it is their belief that may have been Russian hackers who were behind the operation.
This was revealed after a Coincheck employee’s computer was found to show evidence of virus software implemented by Russian hackers. This software, which allows the hacker to take over its victim’s computer, was sent to emails of employees at Coincheck.
It is the belief of Asahi Shimbun, that it was via this software that the hack was able to be perpetrated. A U.S. cybersecurity expert gave credence to this possibility stating that it was likely perpetrated by Eastern European criminals. This is at odds with both the finding of South Korean intelligent services, as well as Cybersecurity firm Group-IB, both of whom had attributed the attack to North Korean hackers.
Whatever the case may be, it seems that whoever did the crime has long since got away cleanly if there is still debate about where the hack even originated from more than 15 months on.
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