Introduction

Coinbase, an exchange for crypto, made their users aware of a breach that affected roughly 6,000 customers. There was a flaw found that allowed SMS verification to be bypassed. With an estimated 68 million users spread across the globe, this attack was on the small end of the spectrum. Still, we are impressed with Coinbase’s transparency and how quick they alerted affected customers.

Breakdown

Coinbase stated that there was certain information needed to gain access to a customer profile. They would need a user’s email address, as well as password, and phone number. This information could be acquired from other breaches.

We urge people to use password managers for this very reason. Using the same password for every login is convenient, but it makes your account more susceptible to being accessed by others. If a password is compromised on a website, someone can try that password on other websites using the same email.

Coinbase, at this time, believes that it was a phishing campaign that targeted customers in order to steal this account information. Banking trojans that have been used for traditional accounts are also known to have impacted Coinbase accounts (source: BleepingComputer, 2021).