Israeli-based cryptocurrency exchange Bancor has disclosed that they have suffered a cyber-attack which resulted in the loss of approximately $13.5 million USD. The attack nearly resulted in the loss of over $23.5 million USD, however security mechanisms put in place allowed Bancor to quickly freeze $10 million USD worth of the attempted theft. The attack took place on July 9th at approximately 12 AM UTC when a currently unknown attacker gained access to one of Bancor’s wallets. The attacker used this access to move 24,984 Ether (ETH) coins, which is approximately $12.5 million USD, to their own wallet, as well as an additional 229,365,645 Pundi X (NPXS) coin, worth approximately $1 million USD. The attackers also attempted to steal 3.2 million Bancor tokens (BNT), worth approximately $10 million USD, however Bancor has security features in Bancor tokens which allow them to freeze the funds to prevent thefts from taking place. While they are unable to freeze the Ether Coin or the Pundi X Coin, Bancor has begun coordinating with other exchanges to trace the funds and potentially recover them before the attackers are able to withdraw the funds or move them to a point that they become difficult to trace. Currently, Bancor is not disclosing how the attackers were able to access the wallets belonging to Bancor but have promised to disclose more details in the following days as its investigation progresses. Bancor has shut down its services as it performs maintenance and security reviews.
