FTX suspends user accounts amid Kroll cyber breach concerns

Following the recent Kroll cybersecurity breach, bankrupt crypto exchange FTX has temporarily suspended accounts of impacted users accessing its claims portal.

FTX announced the decision on X (formerly Twitter) as a proactive measure to prevent future incidents or additional harm following the recent hack.

In response to Kroll’s cybersecurity incident, FTX has taken the precautionary measure of temporarily freezing affected user accounts within the customer claims portal. We thank you for your patience, and will provide additional information regarding next steps in due course.

— FTX (@FTX_Official) August 25, 2023

Users were strongly advised against modifying their claims or altering the accepted schedules in response to the incident. FTX stated that all claim data submitted through the Kroll customer claims portal remains secure and valid.

Kroll — the appointed claims and noticing agent for FTX’s ongoing bankruptcy proceedings — was subject to a breach that exposed non-sensitive data associated with claimants involved in the bankruptcy case. In response, Kroll provided FTX with reassurances regarding its active management of the situation and its continued oversight. FTX subsequently offered substantiation of this assurance by verifying that the breach had no impact on the security of account passwords, internal systems or financial funds.

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Kroll is directly informing impacted individuals about precautionary steps for self-protection. FTX clarified that Kroll did not handle FTX account passwords and that FTX’s internal systems remained unaffected.

Nevertheless, blockchain analyst ZachXBT verified that phishing emails have started reaching FTX customers, suggesting their personal data may have been compromised.

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