After acknowledging a serious security incident, the Russian cryptocurrency exchange platform Livecoin announced that it will shut down its services permanently, inviting its clients to withdraw all their funds. A few weeks ago Livecoin suffered a cyberattack that allowed threat actors to arbitrarily modify exchange rates, affecting thousands of users.
At the end of December, when Bitcoin value was below $23,000 USD, its price in Litecoin was over $450,000 USD, while Ether was valued at $15,000 USD, a significant difference from its regular value of $600 USD. Cryptocurrency enthusiasts began to notice this anomaly, so Litecoin released a statement about it in the following days.
Although platform operators managed to regain control of some of the compromised servers, threat actors began emptying some users’ accounts, resulting in losses due to undefined amounts and irreversible damage: “We faced severe technical and financial damage; we have decided to close our platform as there is no way to continue under these conditions,” the company says.
The platform announced a two-month grace period to make any financial claims to Livecoin. Traders also alerted users to the potential risks arising from this incident: “Remember that you will not have to pay any amount to recover your funds, ignore any messages that say otherwise.” This incident occurred at a height for virtual assets, as at that time the price of Bitcoin began to rise unexpectedly after overcoming the $20,000 USD barrier. Cryptocurrency specialists believe that the attack was carefully planned to ensure its success.
On the other hand, some users have ensured that this is only an exit strategy in the context of an upward market, although at the moment there is no evidence to support this signaling. It is also not known whether the platform will refund 100% of the assets to its users, as in its message they specify that claims will be subject to scrutiny.
He is a well-known expert in mobile security and malware analysis. He studied Computer Science at NYU and started working as a cyber security analyst in 2003. He is actively working as an anti-malware expert. He also worked for security companies like Kaspersky Lab. His everyday job includes researching about new malware and cyber security incidents. Also he has deep level of knowledge in mobile security and mobile vulnerabilities.
