Crypto Exchange Prabang Loses 100 Million Won in Hack

Prabang, a South Korean cryptocurrency exchange, lost about 100 million won ($70,000) in customer assets to a hacking attack, marking the first confirmed asset loss in a recent string of breaches across crypto exchanges and other financial firms.

Prabang has temporarily suspended its services after an unauthorized outsider broke into its systems and drained funds, according to financial industry officials on the 29th. In a notice to users, the exchange said it detected abnormal withdrawals on the 24th from its hot wallet, a cryptocurrency storage wallet connected to the internet. It then activated an emergency response system and launched a full review, during which it found a security vulnerability.

Losses identified so far total roughly 100 million won. Prabang reported the incident to the authorities on the 26th and is investigating the exact cause and scale of the damage. The company said it will cover the entire amount with its own assets. The breach appears to be separate from a personal data leak at Prabang that financial regulators cited on the 14th of this month when they released the findings of their review of hacking incidents in the financial sector.

Attacks targeting cryptocurrency exchanges have come in quick succession. Bithumb, the country's second-largest exchange, also had its internal systems breached on the 27th, exposing the personal data of its executives and employees. While checks continue on whether customer data was also exposed, no separate notice disclosing the scale of the damage had been issued as of the 29th, two days after the incident.

Additional data leaks caused by hacking have been confirmed in the online peer-to-peer lending and electronic financial services sectors. Beyond PFCT and Mouda, where the leak of personal data on a combined 19,000 customers came to light earlier this month, more affected companies have emerged. The Financial Supervisory Service is conducting on-site inspections of several affected online lending and electronic finance firms.