...By Henry George for TDPel Media.
On April 24, 2023, the official Twitter account of crypto exchange KuCoin was hacked, leading to users losing their funds to a fake giveaway event.
The exchange has confirmed the incident and promised to reimburse all verified asset losses caused by the social media breach and the fake activity.
The Incident and Response
KuCoin confirmed that its Twitter account was compromised for almost an hour on April 24 at 8 AM ET.
According to the exchange, the attackers posted a fake activity to deceive KuCoin users into thinking that they were participating in an official event.
The hackers were successful in their attempt, and 22 transactions were involved in the incident, leading to asset losses for several users.
KuCoin has pledged to reimburse the victims for their verified asset losses caused by the social media breach and the fake activity.
The company has urged victims to contact them for assistance and promised to implement better security measures to prevent similar incidents in the future.
The firm is also collaborating with Twitter to conduct further investigations into the incident.
Victim’s Testimonial
A community member who claimed to be a victim said that they were the first to join the fake activity.
According to the user, KuCoin regularly launches similar campaigns to the tweet posted by the attackers.
The Twitter user also appreciated the exchange’s quick response to the attack.
Increasing Trend of Social Media Hacks in Crypto Space
Taking over exchanges’ official Twitter accounts to promote scams is becoming a common strategy for hackers in the crypto space.
In 2022, the Twitter account of crypto exchange CoinDCX was compromised, and fake XRP advertisements were promoted.
In the same year, hackers also took over the Twitter account of the trading platform Robinhood and promoted a crypto token.
Apart from crypto exchanges, hackers are also targeting other parts of Web3, such as the non-fungible token (NFT) space.
In January 2023, NFT project Azuki’s Twitter account was taken over by hackers, resulting in losses of $758,000 in just 30 minutes.
Commentary:
The recent hacking of KuCoin’s Twitter account is a stark reminder of the increasing trend of social media hacks in the crypto space.
Such incidents not only lead to financial losses for the victims but also raise concerns about the security of the platforms.
It’s commendable that KuCoin has pledged to reimburse the victims and take measures to prevent similar incidents in the future.
However, it’s essential that users remain vigilant and exercise caution when participating in any social media activity related to cryptocurrencies.
