Cyber attacks on Exchanges have been on the rise since cryptocurrencies have soared in value and volume. There is always an attempt to steal or manipulate these nascent valuable assets. Bitfinex which has previously been under similar attacks in past, experienced one today bring the exchange operations to a halt.
Exchange halt and DDoS
According to its status update page of BitFinex, the exchange shut on Tuesday at 6.47 am ETC (10.47 Am UTC) after it experienced problems with its trading engine. After being down for nearly two hours the exchange operations were back to normal and the exchange sighted that the issues were with its infrastructure providers.
Following normal operations, for around 30 mins the exchange reported that it was under extreme load and it seemed there was a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack launched as soon as the exchange came live. To explain A Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack is an attempt to make an online service unavailable by overwhelming it with traffic from multiple sources.
It took the exchange almost three hours get the operations normal and running.
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Bitfinex – A favorite among hackers
Bitfinex being one of the largest exchanges seems to be the preferred choice for hackers and cyber attackers. This isn’t the first time the exchange has faced an issue of cyber attacking. In May 2015 a hack resulted in the exchange been theft of 1500 bitcoins. In 2016 the hackers again stole Bitfinex with USD 72 million worth of bitcoins. This would be close to 120000 bitcoins. In December 2017, a flash crash left its customers raising questions on the exchange.
Although after every attack the company has tightened security protocols to avoid such mishap a loophole has always been exploited by the attackers. It due in time that the exchange actually beefs up its strategy on securing the exchange from such attacks.
Do you think Bitfinex can actually find answers to these attacks? Do let us know your views on the same
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Nilesh Maurya has been associated for past 8 years as an Investment Banker with Omega Capital, a bespoke Investment Banking outfit having offices in Mumbai, New York, Singapore, and Dubai. He has been a regular contributor to business publications such as Business India and Market Express and has been a mentor to many start-up companies. Nilesh Maurya has been associated for past 8 years as an Investment Banker with Omega Capital, a bespoke Investment Banking outfit having offices in Mumbai, New York, Singapore, and Dubai. He has been a regular contributor to business publications such as Business India and Market Express and has been a mentor to many start-up companies. Follow him on Twitter at @KoinKing1 or connect with me on linkedin.
