Popular cryptocurrency trading app Robinhood has faced a data breach. In the cyber-attacked application, the information of more than seven million users was captured by hackers.
Robinhood recently announced that it experienced a data breach. In the incident, the attackers accessed the personal information of millions of users on the platform.
Robinhood stated in a blog post that an unauthorized person had accessed their customer support system using social engineering technique.
According to the platform, although the security threat was under control, the attackers gained access to a certain amount of customer information.
Robinhood announced the data breach in an official statement. In the shared post, the company stated that the data breach took place on the evening of November 3, and a cyber attacker without access to data created an artificial customer service employee over the phone, adding that this way, access to the company’s customer support systems was achieved.
Robinhood Chief Security Officer Caleb Sima said:
He noted that after investigations, hackers had seized the e-mail addresses of approximately five million customers. Additionally, two million users’ accounts were compromised with the incident.
According to Robinhood, the names and email addresses of around 310 customers were exposed, as the attackers also gained access to their zip codes and birth dates.
Following the investigation, Robinhood announced that hackers were unable to access customers’ bank account information, bank and credit card information. In addition, users did not suffer any financial loss due to the event.
Hackers Demand Ransom
After the situation was under control, the attackers contacted Robinhood, demanding a ransom in exchange for users’ information.
The company said it contacted law enforcement instead of meeting their demands. Robinhood is also working with a leading security firm, Mandiant, as the investigation into the matter continues.
The Attacks on Robinhood Are Not New
It’s worth noting that this isn’t the first time Robinhood has been hacked in this way. The commission-free trading practice took a hit again last year. About 2,000 users were affected.