Bitget CEO says $388M hack exploited third-party security vulnerability

Bitget CEO Gracy Chen said the crypto exchange’s recent $388 million exploit stemmed from a vulnerability in a third-party security product that allowed the attacker to obtain “high-level internal credentials.”

In comments to Cointelegraph, Chen said the attacker used those credentials to issue fraudulent withdrawal commands. Bitget’s private keys were not compromised, and its cold wallets were not affected, she said.

Bitget said it has since addressed the security flaw and tightened its withdrawal controls, including restricting internal access, adding independent verification for withdrawals and increasing monitoring for unusual activity.

The attack occurred on Sept. 24, when Bitget detected unauthorized transfers from several of its hot wallets and temporarily suspended withdrawals. The exchange initially estimated that about $352 million in assets had been affected.

Related: Bitget resumes Bitcoin withdrawals as hacker swaps ETH via THORChain

Bitget has yet to disclose recovery figures

The exchange has not disclosed how much of the stolen crypto has been recovered or frozen. Chen said some assets have been frozen with help from other industry participants, but Bitget would release a total only after verifying the amounts.