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PYMNTS reports that the U.S. Department of Justice is stepping in after Coinbase was hit by a major cyberattack last week—one that turned into a $20 million extortion attempt.
According to Coinbase’s Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal, the crypto exchange is fully cooperating with U.S. and international law enforcement as they pursue criminal charges against the hackers behind the breach.
The attack involved cybercriminals convincing a few employees to leak internal data from customer support tools. Using that data, the attackers impersonated Coinbase staff and tried to scam users. When Coinbase refused to pay the $20 million ransom, the company instead announced a $20 million reward fund to help bring the perpetrators to justice.
Coinbase is also reimbursing customers who were tricked by these social engineering tactics and revealed the incident could cost the company up to $400 million, according to their SEC filing.
Meanwhile, Binance and Kraken reportedly faced similar attacks but were able to stop them before any damage was done.
Lionsgate Network CEO Bezalel Eithan Raviv noted that dozens of affected users have already reached out for help, highlighting just how serious this breach really is.
