Recently, many crypto platforms have reported scam attacks and the leakage of customer personal data. For a long time, there was an opinion that blockchain technology provides improved data and transaction security. Still, hackers have found a way to bypass existing protection. So, the platform for the sale of NFT OpenSea announced a leak of users’ data.
Details
OpenSea is one of the world’s most famous non-fungible token trading platforms. Every day, many NFT collections are registered here, which are very popular. It runs on the Ethereum blockchain, where the most secure smart contracts are created.
On its official Twitter page, it posted a message stating that personal data had been leaked. The reason was the abuse of access to information by an employee of Customer.io, an email delivery service used by OpenSea. The employee handed over the email addresses of NFT marketplace customers to third parties.
According to OpenSea employees, attackers will try to contact the users who own these emails. They are supposed to write on behalf of OpenSea. They can use an email address similar to the official opensea.io domain, like this:
- Opensae.io;
- Opensea.org;
- Opensea.xyz and others.
So, if they write to you from such email addresses, you should ignore such a message or contact law enforcement agencies.
The platform itself also turned to law enforcement agencies.
Earlier, the OpenSea platform announced the introduction of innovative technologies to combat fraud and plagiarism. According to CEO David Finser, in early 2022, the marketplace created several critical technical systems that help the team promote authentic content and reduce fraud. It was also reported that OpenSea fired about 200 employees in technical user support and security, and innovative computer technologies began to perform their work.
It is worth noting that OpenSea is not the only one where personal data leaks occur. Earlier it became known about the data leakage of 8.2 million US users of the Cash App application. It happened through the fault of an ex-employee of the payment company Block.
Why is personal data leakage so bad?
Many users perceive the leakage of personal data worse than the loss of money. It is mainly because personal data can be used for blackmail.
When people lose money, it is very unpleasant, but they understand that they can return it or earn it again. But when their data is stolen, they begin to worry at what point the attackers will contact them or what exactly they will demand.
It’s good if people know that attackers have stolen their data. Then they can be ready for various provocations and respond correctly to them. But, if people do not suspect that their data has been stolen, they can succumb to fraudulent actions, and the consequences will be unpredictable.
Conclusion
Protecting user privacy is of the utmost importance to many corporations. That is why they invest a lot of money in developing security software. But, this doesn’t always work. OpenSea did everything necessary but did not consider the human factor of the company’s employees and partners. Of course, it is almost impossible to predict all the risks, but it is worth choosing partners and employees more carefully. This is often extremely difficult.