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Topic: [2015-11-05] Biggest Bitcoin Exchange OKCoin Suffers Cyber Attack; Price Plummet (Read 695 times)

newbie
Activity: 28
Merit: 0

If there is a causality between OKCoin's problems and the current plunge in BTC price, then that would suggest that recent reports of China being the BIGGEST PLAYER in Bitcoinistan are true.

And it could be true!  I have seen nothing that would tell me that US HODLers of BTC have been dumping them (although I recently spent some on gold).

Chinese bitcoin exchanges are the world's largest. This is no doubt about that, even if you discount their trading volume by 90% due to 0% trading fee.
legendary
Activity: 2996
Merit: 1903
Biggest Bitcoin Exchange OKCoin Suffers Cyber Attack; Price Plummets

The world’s largest bitcoin exchange OKCoin has suspended some of its services indefinitely, following a malicious cyber attack from unknown hackers.

Due to an increasing number of complaints on bitcoin forums and panels including Bitcointalk.org and Bitcoin Reddit, OKCoin, which processes almost 40% of all bitcoin trades, announced to its users:

http://cointelegraph.com/news/115562/biggest-bitcoin-exchange-okcoin-suffers-cyber-attack-price-plummets


still early days.



If there is a causality between OKCoin's problems and the current plunge in BTC price, then that would suggest that recent reports of China being the BIGGEST PLAYER in Bitcoinistan are true.

And it could be true!  I have seen nothing that would tell me that US HODLers of BTC have been dumping them (although I recently spent some on gold).
legendary
Activity: 1442
Merit: 1016
We will reach a point where there are so many exchanges that you dont see a meaningful effect on the price.

Addtionally: Is Nasdaq or NYSE hacked every 2-3 months  Wink ?

"Hacking" is just a convenient excuse for stealing.

So take it with a grain of salt
 

That's the first thing which came into my mind as well.How do we know OKcoin got really hacked?
It could indeed be the case that this guys made up a hacking issue and use it as kind of exit strategy to get away with all the funds.
This whole thing seems to be weird to me.Suspicious!
sr. member
Activity: 336
Merit: 251
I'm seeing this from another side, competition is driving companies to make mediocre hires. If you look at how the market is shaping for exchanges, you'll see that the ones willing to run things legitimately, as a company and comply with the law, (i.e. are not a startup by a hobbyist) have to face competition that leads to small or no profits when starting up. They facilitate transactions worth millions but the % of that that they get as profit is negligible.

IMO, it's mostly a case of lack of profits due to competition rather than a lack of IT professionals understanding bitcoin. If the pay was good we would have been seeing more prominent security experts trying to understand bitcoin to enter the space.


The best security experts money could buy cost a fortune to employ and can easily find work elsewhere. They have their reputations to consider and might not want to be associate with the questionable activities of OKcoin's management. There are claims they rn their own bots to fake volume and trade on their own exchange using insider knowledge. A top notch security expert has a CV, and he might not want OKcoin on it because it could put future employers off hiring him.

Two valid points of view which I did not consider.
sr. member
Activity: 298
Merit: 253
I'm not sure whether I'm making the right assumption or not but it seems like there is a critical shortage of people in the IT/Bitcoin world with up to scratch security knowledge and or experience. Either that or those in charge of these exchanges/companies have their priorities screwed up or have no idea what they are doing.

I would have thought that all companies would have been out there recruiting the best security experts money could buy especially so when dealing with such large amounts of money/coins also in the light of all the recent big name hacks we've seen over the past year or two. If they were then clearly those they recruited do not have the necessary knowledge and or skills to implement proper security structures and or the hackers is just miles ahead of the industry, not sure which is which.

Can a person still place your trust in any form of online company/business where security is a necessity? I'm not that sure, seems like its just a matter of time with all of them.

Its for this very reason that I run for the hills when I see a site advertising 'bank level security', 'industry standard security' etc...

I'm seeing this from another side, competition is driving companies to make mediocre hires. If you look at how the market is shaping for exchanges, you'll see that the ones willing to run things legitimately, as a company and comply with the law, (i.e. are not a startup by a hobbyist) have to face competition that leads to small or no profits when starting up. They facilitate transactions worth millions but the % of that that they get as profit is negligible.

IMO, it's mostly a case of lack of profits due to competition rather than a lack of IT professionals understanding bitcoin. If the pay was good we would have been seeing more prominent security experts trying to understand bitcoin to enter the space.

The best security experts money could buy cost a fortune to employ and can easily find work elsewhere. They have their reputations to consider and might not want to be associate with the questionable activities of OKcoin's management. There are claims they run their own bots to fake volume and trade on their own exchange using insider knowledge. A top notch security expert has a CV, and he might not want OKcoin on it because it could put future employers off hiring him.
full member
Activity: 196
Merit: 100
We will reach a point where there are so many exchanges that you dont see a meaningful effect on the price.

Addtionally: Is Nasdaq or NYSE hacked every 2-3 months  Wink ?

"Hacking" is just a convenient excuse for stealing.

So take it with a grain of salt
 
hero member
Activity: 700
Merit: 500
I'm not sure whether I'm making the right assumption or not but it seems like there is a critical shortage of people in the IT/Bitcoin world with up to scratch security knowledge and or experience. Either that or those in charge of these exchanges/companies have their priorities screwed up or have no idea what they are doing.

I would have thought that all companies would have been out there recruiting the best security experts money could buy especially so when dealing with such large amounts of money/coins also in the light of all the recent big name hacks we've seen over the past year or two. If they were then clearly those they recruited do not have the necessary knowledge and or skills to implement proper security structures and or the hackers is just miles ahead of the industry, not sure which is which.

Can a person still place your trust in any form of online company/business where security is a necessity? I'm not that sure, seems like its just a matter of time with all of them.

Its for this very reason that I run for the hills when I see a site advertising 'bank level security', 'industry standard security' etc...

I'm seeing this from another side, competition is driving companies to make mediocre hires. If you look at how the market is shaping for exchanges, you'll see that the ones willing to run things legitimately, as a company and comply with the law, (i.e. are not a startup by a hobbyist) have to face competition that leads to small or no profits when starting up. They facilitate transactions worth millions but the % of that that they get as profit is negligible.

IMO, it's mostly a case of lack of profits due to competition rather than a lack of IT professionals understanding bitcoin. If the pay was good we would have been seeing more prominent security experts trying to understand bitcoin to enter the space.
sr. member
Activity: 336
Merit: 251
I'm not sure whether I'm making the right assumption or not but it seems like there is a critical shortage of people in the IT/Bitcoin world with up to scratch security knowledge and or experience. Either that or those in charge of these exchanges/companies have their priorities screwed up or have no idea what they are doing.

I would have thought that all companies would have been out there recruiting the best security experts money could buy especially so when dealing with such large amounts of money/coins also in the light of all the recent big name hacks we've seen over the past year or two. If they were then clearly those they recruited do not have the necessary knowledge and or skills to implement proper security structures and or the hackers is just miles ahead of the industry, not sure which is which.

Can a person still place your trust in any form of online company/business where security is a necessity? I'm not that sure, seems like its just a matter of time with all of them.

Its for this very reason that I run for the hills when I see a site advertising 'bank level security', 'industry standard security' etc...
legendary
Activity: 1148
Merit: 1014
In Satoshi I Trust
We will reach a point where there are so many exchanges that you dont see a meaningful effect on the price.

Addtionally: Is Nasdaq or NYSE hacked every 2-3 months  Wink ?
hero member
Activity: 700
Merit: 500
still early days.

What is that supposed to mean?  Grin Will we reach a point were exchanges will have no vulnerabilities? A point where hacks and scams will stop happening all together? IMO we don't even have a downloadable wallet with security measures easily accessible to the non-advances user.
legendary
Activity: 1148
Merit: 1014
In Satoshi I Trust
Biggest Bitcoin Exchange OKCoin Suffers Cyber Attack; Price Plummets

The world’s largest bitcoin exchange OKCoin has suspended some of its services indefinitely, following a malicious cyber attack from unknown hackers.

Due to an increasing number of complaints on bitcoin forums and panels including Bitcointalk.org and Bitcoin Reddit, OKCoin, which processes almost 40% of all bitcoin trades, announced to its users:

http://cointelegraph.com/news/115562/biggest-bitcoin-exchange-okcoin-suffers-cyber-attack-price-plummets


still early days.
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