Mt. Gox Creditors Report Account Breach Attempts, Another Bitcoin Hack Underway?

In the last 24 hours, numerous Mt. Gox creditors have reported unauthorized login attempts on their accounts. According to posts on an insolvency subreddit, unknown hackers have been attempting to access the accounts of Mt. Gox creditors. This raised concerns about a potential new wave of Bitcoin targeted hack against the already collapsed exchange.

Will Mt. Gox See Another Bitcoin Hack?

A Redditor highlighted the issue in a post that quickly gained traction: “Just received 15 notifications for account login … Is Mt. Gox under attack?” This post was met with dozens of comments from other users who echoed similar experiences. Moreover, they speculated that hackers were employing brute-force techniques to compromise their accounts.

For context, brute-force attacks involve systematically testing a multitude of passwords or keys until the correct one is found. Despite the sophistication of such attacks, several users indicated that their two-factor authentication (2FA) likely prevented the intruders from fully accessing their accounts. “As long as you have a 2FA you should ‘hopefully’ be fine,” commented another Reddit user.

In addition, they suggested that these additional security measures are crucial in thwarting unauthorized access. The reports have emerged during a critical phase for Mt. Gox, which is in the process of distributing bitcoin to its creditors.

The defunct cryptocurrency exchange has been in the process of handing out an estimated $9 billion worth of Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash (BCH). Hence, this recent spate of unauthorized login attempts has added to the anxiety of the creditors awaiting their payouts.

Some users noted that while they received notification emails from Mt. Gox about the login attempts, they were still able to log in to their accounts without issue. Others, however, were not so fortunate, claiming that they could not access their accounts. These users suspected another Bitcoin hack underway.

Conversely, this disparity in user experiences has also led to speculation that the incidents might also be due to a system glitch rather than a coordinated attack. Adding to the complexity of the situation, the Mt. Gox claims website currently states that it is down for maintenance. The notice reads, “Please check back shortly.”

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2FA Comes To Rescue

According to comments on the subreddit, this temporary closure occurred after the reports of unauthorized login attempts surfaced. Hence, it could be a precautionary measure to prevent another Bitcoin hack fiasco. Moreover, the timing of these breach attempts is particularly concerning given Mt. Gox’s recent transfer of Bitcoin and BTC to Kraken, one of the entities selected by the trustee to facilitate the distribution of funds.

Two Japanese exchanges, Bitbank and SBI VC Trade, have already received and seemingly distributed their allocated funds Whilst, BitGo and Bitstamp have yet to receive their payments. As of the latest update, over 13,000 creditors out of approximately 20,000 creditors have been repaid.

Despite the ongoing concerns, some users remain cautiously optimistic. One Redditor shared their experience on how 2FA came to their rescue. They stated, “I have 2FA setup, and when I actually logged in (before I put the 2FA) I noticed that I receive the email from Gox stating that I logged in (even before I used the 2FA) which leads me to think someone might have my password, but the 2FA prevented them to access the account.”

According to Arkham Intelligence, the collapsed Mt. Gox exchange still holds 47,228.73 BTC, valued at approximately $3.05 billion. Hence, the recent surge in unauthorized login attempts serves as an alarm since billions of Bitcoin is at stake. Nonetheless, hackers have still not succeeded in their mission, indicating how the security provisions have evolved since the 2014 mishap.

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