Cryptocurrency trading platform Hotbit has shut down all services for at least a week following a cyberattack that paralyzed several of its services on Thursday evening.
The exchange stated that they have suffered a serious cyber attack on April 29,2021 and a number of basic services were paralyzed.
The attackers also tried to hack into Hotbit’s wallets, but the attempt was identified and stopped by their risk control system.
Even though the attackers could not gain access to any cryptocurrency assets, they were able to delete Hotbit’s database.
The exchange is also checking for any signs of information tampering that could have polluted any of its regularly backed up data before restoring servers and services.
Hotbit assured that its roughly 2 million registered users from over 210 countries (500,000 of them using the platform’s Android app) that their cryptocurrency assets were “safe and secure.”
The investigation and recovery process could take between 7 and 14 days due to the time needed to analyze backup data before starting the system restoration process.
The exchange also reported that the attackers gained access to plain text customer information such as phone number, email address, and asset data stored within its database.
Customers must look out for phishing attempts impersonating Hotbit and recommended reaching out to confirm the validity of any suspicious message.
As a precautionary measure, the exchange has warned users to change passwords on other online services where they use the same credentials.
The exchange shared additional information regarding affected orders and products:
- Leveraged ETF products are not suitable for long-term holding and therefore Hotbit will be fully responsible for all losses suffered by the position-holder during the maintenance period.
- The Open Orders on Hotbit will be canceled when the system is restored to avoid unintended trading losses.
- All daily routine income distributions (such as investment products, current products and FIL cloud computing power) will be paid out after the maintenance is completed.
While Hotbit users have already spotted suspicious transfers from the exchange’s wallets after the attack, Hotbit said that these are legitimate transfers of funds to a new cold wallet.
