Binance Denies Rumors Of Losing Control Over The User Data

Binance denies the rumors that it has lost control of some of the user data as they continue to circle the possibility of a hack. In today’s coming altcoin news we find out more what exactly happened.

In a statement that was issued on August 6, the largest crypto exchange by volume stated that they are investigating the claims which revolved around a hacker’s demand of 300 BTC in return for withholding the traders’ personal data including passports. The threats which Binance learned to be genuine, came via a Telegram group which has amassed more than 10,000 members. In the statement, Binance stated that the alleged data showed inconsistencies compared to the real user information such as the lack of internal watermark. It remains unknown whether the documents are really related to Binance:

 “We are still investigating this case for legitimacy and relevancy. After refusing to cooperate and continuing with his extortion, this individual has begun distributing the data to the public and to media outlets. At the present time, no evidence has been supplied that indicates any KYC images have been obtained from Binance, as these images do not contain the digital watermark imprinted by our system. With that said, our security team is hard at work pursuing all possible leads in an attempt to identify the source of these images.”

Binance denies the rumors of the data leak and even the CEO of the exchange ChangPeng Zhao requested the users not to share any addresses of the Telegram group or spread misinformation. He tweeted:

 “Don’t fall into the ‘KYC leak’ FUD. We are investigating, will update shortly.’’

Some other sources including the CEO of the exchange noted that the data involved information from a previous scare in 2018 which involved the crypto exchange Kraken as well. The statement suggested this could be the only reasonable explanation noting that at the time the hacker refused to demonstrate the authenticity of the haul. As we are reading in the latest cryptocurrency news:

 “On initial review of the images made public, they all appear to be dated from February of 2018, at which time Binance had contracted a third-party vendor for KYC verification in order to handle the high volume of requests at that time. Currently, we are investigating with the third-party vendor for more information.”