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Coinbase says hackers bribed staff to steal customer data, demanding $20M ransom

(www.cnbc.com)
410 points gpi | 10 comments | 15 May 25 15:52 UTC | HN request time: 0.943s | source | bottom
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neilv ◴[15 May 25 16:07 UTC] No.43996445[source]▶
The article keeps saying overseas employees or contractors, but isn't more specific on who Coinbase entrusted with this sensitive customer PII.

The bottom line is Coinbase didn't adequately secure sensitive customer information, and it was leaked.

Not, "Gosh, 'overseas' people, what can ya do?"

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voidspark ◴[15 May 25 16:28 UTC] No.43996649[source]▶
How can customer support operate without knowing anything about the customer?
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1. kgwxd ◴[15 May 25 16:35 UTC] No.43996714[source]▶
Isn't the whole point of crypto to keep PII out of it completely? If not, what is all this non-sense for exactly, other than the typical goals of pyramid schemes?
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2. charcircuit ◴[15 May 25 16:36 UTC] No.43996727[source]▶
Unfortunately government regulation does not make that possible for exchanges. It also is not the point of crypto.
3. sowbug ◴[15 May 25 16:38 UTC] No.43996754[source]▶
Coinbase is a bridge between digital currencies and the traditional world.
4. ◴[15 May 25 16:40 UTC] No.43996761[source]▶
5. ty6853 ◴[15 May 25 16:41 UTC] No.43996776[source]▶
The main point of crypto IMO is to have a large-denomination bearer asset.

This is overlooked most places but if you examine around the time the FATF finally pretty much eliminated bearer bonds, bearer stocks, and large bank notes was exactly the time crypto really took off.

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6. voidspark ◴[15 May 25 16:41 UTC] No.43996781[source]▶
Not if you are dealing with a regulated exchange that facilitates fiat money transactions.

You can receive crypto privately to your own wallet without sharing PII, without any exchange.

7. Tokumei-no-hito ◴[15 May 25 16:49 UTC] No.43996870[source]▶
this? https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/bearer-instrument.asp
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8. ty6853 ◴[15 May 25 16:58 UTC] No.43996958{3}[source]▶
yes. IIRC ~2015 was when the last of bearer bonds/shares were pretty much all completely immobilized. I can't recall when the last ~1000 USD equivalent banknotes were printed but it was also close to that time.
9. dboreham ◴[15 May 25 17:32 UTC] No.43997318[source]▶
The PII is required by governments, to convert crypto money into real money.
10. udev4096 ◴[15 May 25 17:46 UTC] No.43997471[source]▶
It's simple. They want to centralize crypto and dickheads like armstrong are happy to be in line to make that happen. Just look at tether, what's the point of it? It's nothing but a front for inflating the price of bitcoin. It has NEVER been audited and has been found to NOT have any USD backing at all