A safe computer is a shut-down computer. And again… – This phrase from Bill Gates is perfectly adaptable to social media accounts. Not a day goes by without a Discord, Twitter, or even Instagram account getting hijacked. Security, whether for very small projects, or giants is something essential. CoinDCX has experienced this… and the unfortunate topic of the day is also Ripple!
When The Hacker Promise Ripple, En Masse
And when security is not absolute (can it really be?), the drama happens. This is what the Indian exchange CoinDCX experienced at the beginning of the week, and even if they were able to take matters into their own hands, the potential damage can be astronomical.
Indeed, hackers managed to take control of the official Twitter account of the platform and used it to post fraudulent links. Announcing fake XRP (Ripple) giveaways, they used the network cleverly.
By retweeting posts from official accounts such as the CEO of Ripple Labs, they gave credence to their fake “donations” by displaying a very clean storefront. They also took the time to respond to messages from subscribers, providing them with other equally dangerous links.
If the user fell into the trap, he then risked losing all or part of his funds. The losses could be catastrophic, both for the users of the platform and for CoinDCX which can see its reputation seriously tarnished.
With more than 230,000 subscribers to the official account, hackers could expect a significant gain. The platform has not released any figures at this time, but given the time needed to regain control of the account, it is to be expected that the losses will be heavy.
Security Restored But With What Consequences?
CoinDCX tried to warn its users, via its other Twitter account CoinDCX Cares, used for customer service. But with less than a tenth of the main account’s followers, no doubt a lot of users have certainly missed out on the information.
The hack was reported by a Twitter account from blockchain security company PeckShield.
“It appears Indian crypto exchange CoinDCX’s Twitter account @CoinDCX has been compromised and used by the exploiter to share links to fraudulent $XRP GIVEAWAY.”
A handful of hours were necessary for control to be regained.
It is difficult (if not impossible) to completely secure an account on social networks because we know that hackers are always one step ahead. But, it is important to do the maximum possible, with long and very complex passwords (and preferably, randomly), authentication with 2FA, and above all vigilance at all times.
TechAint 