A data leak from the email service provider used by OpenSea, which happened in June 2022, exposed approximately 7 million email addresses.
It’s been discovered that a significant number of familiar faces, established companies, and influential figures within the cryptocurrency sector are included in this group.
OpenSea Breach
As reported by the anonymous head of information security at SlowMist, known as “23pds,” a recent data leak exposed the emails of several prominent figures in the cryptocurrency sector, including Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao, the founder and ex-CEO of Binance.
23pds tweet read,
Approximately 7 million records have been leaked, containing a significant amount of email data from overseas crypto enthusiasts, prominent individuals, businesses, and key influencers in the field. This leak could potentially endanger their privacy and digital assets’ safety in the cryptocurrency sector, leading to potential future threats.
On June 29, 2022, OpenSea, a significant global NFT marketplace, informed its users about a security incident. It was discovered that an employee from Customer.io, their email automation service provider, had inadvertently shared user email addresses with an outside party. Later, Customer.io acknowledged that this breach also affected the data of five other companies (without naming them).
Even though the data leak occurred over two years back, it was only recently made public knowledge, giving attackers ample time to misuse the information for phishing activities and fraudulent schemes.
Billions Lost to Phishing Attacks
2024 data from CertiK’s report shows that phishing was the most financially damaging type of cyberattack last year, resulting in approximately $1.05 million in losses from 296 separate incidents. In three instances, the losses exceeded $100 million each. Phishing accounted for nearly half of all stolen assets in 2024 and 39.1% of all cyberattacks, suggesting that it tends to cause greater financial harm per attack compared to other vulnerabilities.
As a crypto investor, I’ve learned firsthand that phishing continues to be a favored tactic among cybercriminals due to its simplicity and effectiveness. Instead of solely focusing on breaching technical systems, they prefer to capitalize on human vulnerabilities. This is often achieved through misleading emails, fake websites, or bogus messages designed to trick users into revealing sensitive information such as passwords, private keys, or wallet addresses.
In the world of cryptocurrencies, phishing attacks can be particularly harmful because once transactions are made, they’re usually non-refundable. If funds are stolen, there’s no way to get them back unless the thief voluntarily returns them. Consequently, it’s been noted that the largest quarterly losses due to phishing occurred in Q2 of 2024, amounting to a staggering $433 million.
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2025-01-14 01:08