Hi fellow Steemians!
If you trade crypto, then you probably know Bitfinex, the cryptocurrency exchange.
Only a few hours ago, Bitfinex suffered from a cyberattack that caused the exchange to shut down briefly.
It's believed to be a DDoS attack that overwhelmed the system with extreme load on the servers.
Luckily, no user accounts and funds were at risk from the attack and it only impacted trading operations. However it did cause the price of Bitcoin to fall 2 percent following the news.
Cyberattacks are rather common within the cryptocurrency industry and that's extremely worrying. Crypto-market is in the process of becoming mainstream and what it needs right now is to build trust among the public. Who would want to invest in digital currency if every once again we hear on the news that this exchange and that coin have been targeted by hackers who stole millions of dollars? To make it worse, this isn't the first time Bitfinex was hacked, as it was targeted last June and also suspended trading in August 2016 after a hack resulted in the theft of approximately 120,000 bitcoins.
I understand even the largest corporations in the world are sometimes helpless against cyberattacks. However, if there are crypto-exchanges or coin developers who take security lightly, I urge them to rethink their decisions. The foundation needs to be solid for it to succeed in the long-run.
Source: CNBC
Image source: CryptoCompare
Thanks for the news as I have coins in Bitfinex and just got to know that it was a DDOS.
Thanks @farhan.sidiqui! Luckily no funds were affected. Stay safe!
Lucky me ;)