Unchained Capital ActiveCampaign Privacy Breach

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Unchained Capital

Unchained Capital is a bitcoin custody service which assists individuals in setting up multi-signature wallets. For marketing, they used a customer relationship management tool called ActiveCampaign. In February 2022, they closed down their account and requested all data to be deleted. However, the following month, fraudsters impersonated them and succeeded in reopening the account. This gave the fraudsters access to all the contact information of different customers that had been stored in the platform.

Unchained Capital appears to have been transparent around which information was leaked and how the events unfolded. They have advised customers to be vigilantly looking out for any spear-phishing attempts using their stolen data.

About Unchained Capital

"Established at block height 433179, Unchained Capital is the world’s premier bitcoin financial services company." "We make it easy for you to get the most from your bitcoin while holding your own keys." "Secure your bitcoin with multisig keys that you control." "Multisig vaults for teams with granular access permissions."

"In March 2019, we launched our bitcoin multisig vault platform, a superior approach to security that combines the control of self-custody with the benefits of a managed financial service. This approach allows users to control private keys and to create redundancy by distributing keys among participants who know and trust each other."

"When a client chooses Unchained, they are making a decision to reveal themselves selectively to our company, and not to anyone else, in exchange for better security, redundancy, support, and more value from their holdings through our financial services. In doing so, we recognize that clients sacrifice anonymity and entrust us with their privacy in return for the value of our service."

"We go to great lengths to secure client data through our internal infrastructure, proprietary applications, and the third parties we rely upon to run our business. We utilize encryption, access control, user management, and are extremely conservative about what information we share with third parties, far more conservative than the standard in our industry. We perform due diligence before engaging any new vendor to process data for us, including a review of any independent security audits (such as SOC II reports), and hold our vendors to a high standard."

"Ensuring the privacy of our clients is critical to our business as is transparency around the information we collect and the associated risks. We want our customers to not only be informed about the value and services we deliver but also potential tradeoffs. Prior to using our services, we recommend all potential clients review our materials on privacy and security and please reach out to us with any questions."

"Most individuals don’t understand the power of a CRM. At minimum, these tools allow companies to acquire, sort and manage incoming customers (and their data) in a way that provides the best user experience. At maximum, these tools are capable of an extreme degree of web monitoring and AI-based user segmentation and prediction."

"ActiveCampaign (“AC”) [was] a third-party email marketing provider that Unchained Capital used." "Unchained Capital used AC until February 2022 to support [their] marketing and sales functions. As a result, limited data was shared with AC depending on the nature of services clients or prospective clients were interested in or used." "For clients, this data included: email addresses, usernames, account status (active/inactive) and whether the client had an active vault or loan with Unchained Capital (yes or no)." "For individuals that purchased a service directly through our website, such as Concierge Onboarding, scheduled a consultation, or signed up on our website for updates and our newsletter, this data included: their name, email address, and IP address (but no shipping addresses were ever stored in AC)."

On March 10th, "ActiveCampaign (“AC”) was the subject of a social engineering attack." "The attack was conducted through a live chat tool on AC’s public website, which did not require any user authentication, on Thursday March 10th between approximately 8-9am CST."

"An attacker impersonating an Unchained Capital employee socially engineered an AC support chat representative to reactivate Unchained Capital’s account which had been closed on February 17th, 2022. Subsequently, the attacker(s) then socially engineered a second AC support chat representative to add an administrative user using a username and password provided by the attacker. The attacker then gained unauthorized access to the reopened Unchained Capital account without needing a valid email and was able to export data from our previously closed AC account."

"The social engineering attack took place on the AC platform, and involved AC personnel, procedures, systems and applications." "[O]nly information shared with AC – client email addresses, usernames, account status, whether the client had an active multisig vault or loan with Unchained Capital and possibly IP addresses – may have been exported without authorization." "This attack occurred after Unchained Capital had closed its AC account and requested that all data be purged."

"Though [Unchained] had requested this data be deleted, it was not. Unfortunately, we only learned that AC had not deleted this data after discovering the social engineering attack. Within 20 minutes of the attack, an Unchained Capital administrator received emails with the fraudulent chat transcripts and took immediate measures to restrict further access. After the attack was identified, Unchained Capital worked to gather these relevant facts. Ultimately, on Tuesday, March 15th, AC confirmed unauthorized access did occur and that the attacker was able to export the data described above."

"In an email to clients and a letter posted on the company website on Wednesday [a week after the attack], Unchained Capital CEO Joe Kelly said ActiveCampaign (AC), an outside email marketing provider used by Unchained until earlier this year, was hit with a social engineering attack."

"[C]lient profile information that was never shared with AC was not leaked. This would include data including physical addresses, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, IDs, phone numbers, bank account numbers, passwords, bitcoin (BTC) addresses, bitcoin balances, loan balances, trading activity, vault statements and loan statements."

"Please be diligent, and where there is any doubt, it is best to always err on the side of caution and reach out to us for confirmation. Specifically, if clients receive suspicious emails requesting to change passwords, perform any actions to sign transactions or replace any keys that secure your bitcoin, please do not take any such actions and reach out to us immediately. Our client services team and executives are on standby to take calls and answer all questions clients have. We will also be hosting a continuing education webinar on spear phishing and general best practices to avoid any associated risks."

"Kelly added that while client bitcoin custody is protected by multisig cold storage, clients nevertheless should be aware of what happened and be vigilant against phishing attacks."

"We are deeply sorry this incident occurred as we take our clients’ privacy very seriously," concluded Kelly. "We want to reinforce the fact that, due to our collaborative custody model, no such incidents could ever put any client funds at risk."

"We have ensured that this social engineering attack vector is not possible with our current email marketing provider and over the coming weeks, we will be carefully reviewing all security measures and processes including vendor risk management."

"While we minimize the need for trust in the ultimate security of client funds through our approach to custody, our clients still put an immense amount of trust in us to protect their privacy and to ensure these incidents do not occur. As bitcoiners and clients of Unchained Capital ourselves, we have taken on these responsibilities with a clear understanding of the weight of our obligations. While we carry the gravity of this disclosure and security incident with us, we will learn from mistakes and strive to do better."

This exchange or platform is based in United States, or the incident targeted people primarily in United States.

The background of the exchange platform, service, or individuals involved, as it would have been seen or understood at the time of the events.

Include:

• Known history of when and how the service was started.
• What problems does the company or service claim to solve?
• What marketing materials were used by the firm or business?
• Audits performed, and excerpts that may have been included.
• Business registration documents shown (fake or legitimate).
• How were people recruited to participate?
• Public warnings and announcements prior to the event.

Don't Include:

• Any wording which directly states or implies that the business is/was illegitimate, or that a vulnerability existed.
• Anything that wasn't reasonably knowable at the time of the event.

There could be more than one section here. If the same platform is involved with multiple incidents, then it can be linked to a main article page.

The Reality

This sections is included if a case involved deception or information that was unknown at the time. Examples include:

• When the service was actually started (if different than the "official story").
• Who actually ran a service and their own personal history.
• How the service was structured behind the scenes. (For example, there was no "trading bot".)
• Details of what audits reported and how vulnerabilities were missed during auditing.

What Happened

The specific events of the loss and how it came about. What actually happened to cause the loss and some of the events leading up to it.

Key Event Timeline - Unchained Capital ActiveCampaign Privacy Breach

Date	Event	Description
March 10th, 2022	Main Event	Expand this into a brief description of what happened and the impact. If multiple lines are necessary, add them here.
March 16th, 2022 12:58:12 PM MDT	Unchained Capital Announcement	Unchained Capital posts an announcement to their website. The attack on the former vendor, ActiveCampaign, a third-party email marketing provider, resulted in the compromise of Unchained Capital client and marketing data, including email addresses, usernames, account status, client name, and IP address. The firm emphasized that there was no impact on Unchained Capital’s systems, nor were client assets secured through its platform ever at risk. Clients were advised to be vigilant for spear-phishing attempts and confirmed communications with the firm. The attack on Unchained Capital comes amid a rising number of cyber threats to financial firms.
March 16th, 2022 4:04:00 PM MDT	Reported on CoinDesk	The incident is reported on CoinDesk. TBD different versions.
March 17th, 2022 8:20:00 AM MDT	CoinDesk Article Updated	TBD what updates?
March 18th, 2022 6:54:00 PM MDT	Praised on Twitter	The breach is publicly praised on Twitter by a user Zub79, responding about the BlockFi data breach.
March 18th, 2022 10:50:00 PM MDT	Another Twitter Reference	The breach is referenced.
March 21st, 2022 7:14:49 AM MDT	Bitcoinist Article Published	Bitcoinist publishes an article comparing and contrasting the privacy breach against others. In addition to Unchained Capital, NYDIG, Swan Bitcoin, and BlockFi, also recently suffered a data breach through their third-party providers. Although the companies all made public apologies and addressed the issue, the blame was shifted to the third-party vendors. Fortunately, the data stolen was mostly marketing-driven personal information rather than critical financial data. The companies urged affected clients to be extra vigilant and avoid clicking on any links to protect themselves from spear phishing attempts. The four companies have all said they are working with their third-party vendors and looking to move away from using vendors for email.
March 21st, 2022 5:05:26 PM MDT	Bitcoin Magazine Article	Bitcoin Magazine publishes an article on the Hubspot data breach. They report the unauthorized user with "super admin" access exported contact lists and data, including IP addresses, email histories, customer browsing behavior, financial value, and help tickets. While financial data was not compromised, the loss of user persona and behavioral data is severe, and users should expect spear phishing and spam attacks. Users are advised to be cautious of unsolicited communications and to use privacy best practices when browsing, buying, and communicating online.

Total Amount Lost

The total amount lost is unknown.

How much was lost and how was it calculated? If there are conflicting reports, which are accurate and where does the discrepancy lie?

Immediate Reactions

How did the various parties involved (firm, platform, management, and/or affected individual(s)) deal with the events? Were services shut down? Were announcements made? Were groups formed?

Unchained Capital Announcement

Unchained Capital announced the breach with a detailed announcement on their website.

We are letting our clients and community know about a security incident that occurred at one of the vendors we previously used for email marketing, resulting in the compromise of Unchained Capital client and marketing data detailed below. Importantly, there is no impact whatsoever to Unchained Capital’s systems, nor were client assets secured through our platform ever at risk.

ActiveCampaign (“AC”), a third-party email marketing provider that Unchained Capital used until early in 2022, was the subject of a social engineering attack last week. This attack occurred after Unchained Capital had closed its AC account and requested that all data be purged. While the attack occurred on a third party, it has impacted our clients and it was ultimately the result of our decision to work with this vendor. Regardless of any failures by third parties, we are accountable to our clients in all cases. In this instance, we have let them down and it is necessary that we share details of the security incident which occurred on Thursday, March 10th.

What information was NOT compromised

The social engineering attack took place on the AC platform, and involved AC personnel, procedures, systems and applications. None of Unchained Capital’s systems, applications, employees, or accounts (admin or client) were compromised. Because none of Unchained Capital’s systems were compromised, the following information was NOT subject to the compromise: client profile information containing personally identifiable information (e.g. addresses, SSN, DOB, IDs, phone numbers used in our KYC process), bank account numbers, passwords, bitcoin addresses, bitcoin balances, loan balances, trading activity, vault statements, loan statements.

None of this information was provided to ActiveCampaign and was therefore never subject to compromise through the attack on AC. Given our bitcoin custody is built on multisig and cold storage, through which clients hold their own keys, no funds were ever at risk but it is critical that clients be diligent and on high alert for reasons described below.

What information was compromised

Unchained Capital used AC until February 2022 to support our marketing and sales functions. As a result, limited data was shared with AC depending on the nature of services clients or prospective clients were interested in or used. Elements of this data were compromised and exported by an unauthorized user as described below.

For clients, this data included: email addresses, usernames, account status (active/inactive) and whether the client had an active vault or loan with Unchained Capital (yes or no).

For individuals that purchased a service directly through our website, such as Concierge Onboarding, scheduled a consultation, or signed up on our website for updates and our newsletter, this data included: their name, email address, and IP address (but no shipping addresses were ever stored in AC).

What steps clients should consider taking

It is always important that our clients be diligent about confirming all communications and any requests that appear to come from Unchained Capital. Given the data leak, clients should be on high alert for any spear phishing attempts. Be especially careful about clicking on any links—always ensure that they are HTTPS links to unchained.com. If any email or communication looks suspicious, please contact us at clientservices@unchained.com or call us at 1-844-486-2424 to confirm its authenticity. Please be diligent, and where there is any doubt, it is best to always err on the side of caution and reach out to us for confirmation. Specifically, if clients receive suspicious emails requesting to change passwords, perform any actions to sign transactions or replace any keys that secure your bitcoin, please do not take any such actions and reach out to us immediately. Our client services team and executives are on standby to take calls and answer all questions clients have. We will also be hosting a continuing education webinar on spear phishing and general best practices to avoid any associated risks.

Details of security incident

The attack was conducted through a live chat tool on AC’s public website, which did not require any user authentication, on Thursday March 10th between approximately 8-9am CST.

An attacker impersonating an Unchained Capital employee socially engineered an AC support chat representative to reactivate Unchained Capital’s account which had been closed on February 17th, 2022. Subsequently, the attacker(s) then socially engineered a second AC support chat representative to add an administrative user using a username and password provided by the attacker. The attacker then gained unauthorized access to the reopened Unchained Capital account without needing a valid email and was able to export data from our previously closed AC account.

Though we had requested this data be deleted, it was not. Unfortunately, we only learned that AC had not deleted this data after discovering the social engineering attack. Within 20 minutes of the attack, an Unchained Capital administrator received emails with the fraudulent chat transcripts and took immediate measures to restrict further access. After the attack was identified, Unchained Capital worked to gather these relevant facts. Ultimately, on Tuesday, March 15th, AC confirmed unauthorized access did occur and that the attacker was able to export the data described above.

Duty to our clients

Regardless of any actions or failures by third parties, our commitments are to our clients, prospective clients, and partners that put their trust in Unchained Capital and to each of them, we take responsibility. Furthermore, we have an obligation—not an option—to make this disclosure to help ensure the security of our clients regardless of the negative impact it may have on our business.

While we minimize the need for trust in the ultimate security of client funds through our approach to custody, our clients still put an immense amount of trust in us to protect their privacy and to ensure these incidents do not occur. As bitcoiners and clients of Unchained Capital ourselves, we have taken on these responsibilities with a clear understanding of the weight of our obligations. While we carry the gravity of this disclosure and security incident with us, we will learn from mistakes and strive to do better.

Working to do better

We go to great lengths to secure client data through our internal infrastructure, proprietary applications, and the third parties we rely upon to run our business. We utilize encryption, access control, user management, and are extremely conservative about what information we share with third parties, far more conservative than the standard in our industry. We perform due diligence before engaging any new vendor to process data for us, including a review of any independent security audits (such as SOC II reports), and hold our vendors to a high standard.

Our high standards for client privacy ensured that we limited the amount of data we shared with ActiveCampaign. But with these same high standards, any exposure of client data is unacceptable to us. We have ensured that this social engineering attack vector is not possible with our current email marketing provider and over the coming weeks, we will be carefully reviewing all security measures and processes including vendor risk management.

We are deeply sorry this incident occurred as we take our client’s privacy very seriously. Our mission is to grow bitcoin adoption and to empower our clients to hold their own private keys, eliminating us or any financial institution as a single point of failure. We want to reinforce the fact that, due to our collaborative custody model, no such incidents could ever put any client funds at risk.

Ultimate Outcome

What was the end result? Was any investigation done? Were any individuals prosecuted? Was there a lawsuit? Was any tracing done?

Total Amount Recovered

There do not appear to have been any funds recovered in this case.

What funds were recovered? What funds were reimbursed for those affected users?

Ongoing Developments

What parts of this case are still remaining to be concluded?

General Prevention Policies

The situation involved a failure to verify the identity of the account holder, and a failure to remove customer data which was requested to be removed already. Beyond this, access to the entire mailing list was possible for a single employee of the company. Greater security can be achieved when the actual contact information is not directly handled by employees without multi-signature approval, especially to access full mailing lists.

Individual Prevention Policies

No specific policies for individual prevention have yet been identified in this case.

For the full list of how to protect your funds as an individual, check our Prevention Policies for Individuals guide.

Platform Prevention Policies

Policies for platforms to take to prevent this situation have not yet been selected in this case.

For the full list of how to protect your funds as a financial service, check our Prevention Policies for Platforms guide.

Regulatory Prevention Policies

No specific regulatory policies have yet been identified in this case.

For the full list of regulatory policies that can prevent loss, check our Prevention Policies for Regulators guide.