On Saturday, 9 June, Coinrail, a South Korean cryptocurrency exchange, announced that they had been the victim of a data breach, leading to the loss of an estimated $40 million in altcoins.

The attackers are believed to have stolen 1,927 ether, 2.6 billion NPXS, 93 million ATX and 831 million DENT coins, alongside significant amounts from six other tokens, representing 30% of Coinrail’s total coin and reserves. However, Coinrail claim that two thirds of the stolen coins have either been frozen or withdrawn so far, with further recovery action likely to happen.

Although the attack did not feature any of the major cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum or Dogecoin, many recorded large losses in value after the attack was announced, with Bitcoin dropping to its lowest value in two months.

While cryptocurrencies remain valuable, it is almost certain that they, and associated services such as exchanges and wallet providers, will remain an attractive target for cyber criminals.

Even smaller exchanges have sufficient funds to make them worthwhile targets for cyber criminals. The Coinrail attack represents another notable attack against an exchange following the Coincheck, Youbit (twice), EtherDelta and NiceHash thefts that have taken place since December 2017.