270k User Data At Risk As Australian Crypto Exchange Accidentally Sends Emails En masse

An Australian Crypto Market Overt dubbed BTC Markets, has by a mere twist of fate jeopardised the privacy protection of its customers by accidentally baring their personal information. This way, its users are at the mercy of phishers and identity thieves. 

Business Insider disclosed how the exchange had bared the identities (names and email addresses) of more than 270,000 users when it released emails en masse to the users all at once. 

The same mail was addressed to a set of one thousand email recipients. 

This unintended disclosure came to be due to the emails sent all at once instead of mails being sent to each user personally, or better still, opting to utilize the “blind carbon copy” feature.

Any would-be identity thief would already have access to about nine hundred and ninety nine other personal data from each addressed email.

Caroline Bowler  the CEO of BTC Market explained that:

“all account holders were affected.”

She continued that:

“The email was sent in batches, rather than in bulk.”

The mails could not be reversed or cut midway once it was sent.

Although sensitive data regarding passcode, financial information were not compromised, the disclosed info puts users at risk of phishers, identity thieves, and fuels the menace of obtaining by false pretences, as potential scammers now know who and who have crypto accounts.

This unintended move brings to the fore the challenges of centralizing Crypto markets. Any error or system hack can give away non-sensitive and even highly sensitive data.

With the look of things, BTC Market has to undergo an internal evaluation and timely review so as to tighten its security. To observe necessary due process, BTC Markets will  have to register this inadvertent occurrence to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.