Blockchain.info Email Backup Theft

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Blockchain.info

A blockchain.info user noticed one day that their wallet was emptied of their entire life savings of over 300 bitcoin. The most likely culprit was their email backup, which would have been exposed if their email was compromised. It is unclear if the password may have been reused and exposed in a previous data breach, which is a common attack vector.

This is a global/international case not involving a specific country.

About Blockchain.info

"The world’s most popular crypto wallet. Over 80 million wallets created to buy, sell, and earn crypto." "As they say, not your keys, not your crypto. Blockchain.com Private Key Wallets are the most widely-used wallets for self-custody of your crypto. We make it easy for people who are ready to control their private keys to hold them with a Secret Private Key Recovery Phrase." "When it comes to ensuring that your crypto is secure, we think about every last detail so you don’t have to."

"Blockchain.info is not an online wallet. They don't have access to private keys. If this story is true, his PC was compromised."

"OP used Coinbase (which had 2FA) to purchase the bitcoins but then transfered the coins to Blockchain.info (which did not have 2FA) which is where they got stolen from." "I had used 2 factor authentication with Coinbase, but did not have it enabled for blockchain.info, where I had transferred the coins to."

Blockchain.info had a "blockchain back up file they send to your email." "Yes, I did have the backup file in my email." Email password was "10 characters with uppercase, lowercase, digits and punctuation."

"Today, as I was halfway through my workout at the gym, I get a notification on my Android phone: "You have transferred 301 BTC""

"Ugh. My entire savings gone. I put nearly every paycheck into buying bitcoins through Coinbase - not one of the early gpu miners =("

"Not looking for pity, but hoping this serves as a warning to anyone not using cold storage or some level of 2 factor authentication for large amounts of BTC. I am also curious if I can find out how it happened. Malware on my Android phone or Macbook?"

"Let me ask you.... did you leavr any of your computers unlocked? Or accessable..? I ask because a easy attack vector would be the blockchain back up file they send to your email." "Yes, I did have the backup file in my email. This sounds most likely..."

"We need to address this to the community to prevent it again. Man I am really really sorry for your loss and your hard work. Theres still a bit of hope to still be a early adopter."

"Young, single and nothing left to speculate with. Onward."

This is a global/international case not involving a specific country.

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 - Blockchain.info Email Backup Theft

Date	Event	Description
November 4th, 2013 5:09:00 PM MST	Main Event	Expand this into a brief description of what happened and the impact. If multiple lines are necessary, add them here.

Technical Details

This section includes specific detailed technical analysis of any security breaches which happened. What specific software vulnerabilities contributed to the problem and how were they exploited?

Total Amount Lost

The total amount lost has been estimated at $76,000 USD.

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?

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

Passwords need to be unique on each account to prevent breaches. In particular, ensure that any accounts which hold finances such as banking or primary email have a unique and secure password. One strategy for generating easier to remember passwords is to use 4 fully random words.

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.