Bitfinex database breach ‘appears to be fake’, says CTO

According to Bitfinex Chief Technology Officer Paolo Arduino, the Fsociety hacking group hacked Bitfinex's database and leaked 22,500 customer emails and passwords.

“If they had any real information, they would have asked Ramson through our bug bounty, customer support ticket, emails, Twitter, etc.,” Arduino posted on X on May 4.

“We do not store clear passwords or 2FA secrets in clear text,” he added.

Adoino said only 5,000 of the 22,500 records of emails and passwords corresponded to Bitfinex users. He pointed out that hackers are more likely to collect data from other crypto data breaches.

“Most users unfortunately use the same email and passwords on different websites,” he explained.

He shared a message from a security researcher who believes the hackers hacked Bitfinex to promote a data recovery hacking tool.

“So by creating rumors about successful hacking of well-known companies/universities, how good their tool is and getting others to buy it, they can make millions of dollars using this tool to exploit companies.”

Arduino assured users that they are continuing to investigate the situation, but that no breach has been found so far and all “funds are safe”.

Related: Bitcoin Post-Halving Price Consolidation Could Last 2 Months – Bitfinex

This is not the first time Bitfinex has faced scrutiny over data breach concerns.

In the year In November 2023, Cointelegraph reported a small data security issue on Bitfinex when one of its customer support agents was hacked.

This has led to a series of phishing attacks targeting Bitfinex users, although Bitfinex has claimed little damage.

Meanwhile, in 2016, Bitfinex suffered a security breach that resulted in the loss of 119,576 customers' Bitcoin (BTC), worth an estimated $70 million at the time, which is worth around $7.6 billion at the current price.

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