- Crypto exchange Gemini has faced a data breach that compromised around 5.7 million user emails. The stolen information was leaked on the internet.
- The breach was reported by Cointelegraph citing the documents showing Gemini’s user information including email addresses.
- Gemini confirmed the data breach caused by a third-party vendor and informed that some of its customers have been affected.
According to recent reports, the cryptocurrency exchange Gemini servers have been compromised by a breach of data and reportedly 5.7 million emails were leaked. While crypto exchange platform Gemini has stated that it has affected some of its customers, reports say otherwise. Approximately 5.7 million emails were leaked.
Targeted by phishing campaigns
After the leak, Gemini customers have been the target of phishing campaigns. Gemini insisted that no Gemini account information or systems were impacted by the incident. Gemini said in a blog post;
« Some Gemini customers have recently been the target of phishing campaigns that we believe are the result of an incident at a third-party vendor. This incident led to the collection of Gemini customer email addresses and partial phone numbers. »
The crypto news portal Cointelegraph reported the incident and its reporter Zhiyuan Sun wrote that the documents that they reviewed showed the Gemini customers’ email addresses and partial phone numbers.
After the breach news surfaced, Gemini claimed that the incident was caused by a third-party vendor. The company also warned its member about ongoing phishing campaigns as a result of the stolen data. The Gemini exchange also went offline for seven hours as the firm said it was due to scheduled maintenance during the day after reports about the leak emerged.
Substitute email addresses not to be relied on
Meanwhile, the Gemini blog post stated that the security of customer funds and associated accounts is the exchange’s top priority. The firm also notified its users not to rely on the secrecy of an email address as a substitute for strong authentication methods. Gemini went on and listed step-by-step instructions on how to reset an email associated with a specific Gemini account.
Gemini is not the first crypto company to suffer from a data leak. The hardware wallet manufacturer Ledger had an incident of a customer data leak in 2020. Last year, the Indian crypto exchange BuyUcoin was hacked as well. And reportedly sensitive information belonging to 325,000 users was allegedly leaked. This year, Celsius revealed a customer data breach before the business filed for bankruptcy. OpenSea also reported that it suffered from a leak this year.