IIROC-registered Canadian cryptocurrency exchange Coinsquare experiences a data breach
On November 19, Coinsquare had to briefly halt operations in order to investigate strange activities on its platform.
Coinsquare suffered a data breach that compromised customers’ personal information just a month after becoming the first Canadian crypto trading platform to be authorised by the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC).
On November 19, Coinsquare had to briefly halt operations in order to investigate strange activities on its platform. However, several days of proactive measures allowed Coinsquare to gradually resume operations.
We will be re-enabling crypto deposits shortly after the maintenance window with crypto withdrawals to follow shortly after.
— Coinsquare (@Coinsquare) November 22, 2022
Coinsquare revealed in a follow-up email to investors that their client database containing personal information was exposed during the breach, which a third party most likely accessed.
Personal information including as names, email addresses, residence addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth, device IDs, public wallet addresses, transaction histories, and account balances were included in the hacked database. Coinsquare also confirmed that no credentials were leaked, saying:
“We would like to point out that your assets have always been and continue to be secure in cold storage and are not at risk.”
While no bad actors were detected accessing the breached data, the official communication advises users to change their passwords, enable 2-Factor Authentication (2FA), and use different credentials for different platforms.
Bitvo, a Canadian cryptocurrency exchange, was able to back out of its acquisition agreement with FTX due to the lengthy approval process by local regulators.
Bitvo’s operations have not been impacted, according to the company, because it has no material exposure to FTX or any of its affiliated entities.
