Bithumb, South Korea's second-largest crypto exchange, said on Oct. 28 that an outside party without authorization gained access to a mobile system used by staff and leaked personal data, according to a company notice.
The breached system is used by staff for messaging and document work and is separate from the platform customers use to trade crypto, the exchange said. “Customer virtual assets cannot be accessed through this breach,” Bithumb said in its statement.
The company said it is still analyzing the exact scope of the leak, including whether data belonging to customers, in addition to employees, was exposed.
The same day, brokerage Daishin Securities reported a similar incident that exposed personal and credit records belonging to 38,490 customers, and asset manager Mirae Asset Global Investments disclosed a breach as well. All three became part of a wave of cyberattacks on South Korea's financial sector.
Financial Supervisory Service Governor Lee Chan-jin said cyberattacks have struck 16 financial firms across South Korea since Oct. 14. The regulator said it is currently assessing the situation at three of them.
Bithumb did not disclose how the intruder gained access to the system or give a timeline for completing its review.
