Users’ Privacy at Stake as BitMEX Leaks E-mail Addresses

BitMEX—a globally recognized platform for Bitcoin derivatives has found itself in a debacle after e-mail addresses of many of its users went public. Some BitMEX customers first detected the flaw when they were able to see the e-mail addresses of their counterparts on the same platform after the exchange sent an update e-mail. It so happened that everyone received the same e-mail with addresses carbon copied.

The fault, according to many users, was a result of carbon copying (CC) all the e-mail addresses instead of using the blind carbon copy (BCC) option.

According to a famous crypto lawyer Jake Chervinsky, BitMEX through its person in charge of sending e-mails simply failed to utilize the BCC option. He said:

“BitMEX just doxxed its users in the most outrageously incompetent way imaginable: forgetting to use blind copy on mass email. Someone must be cleaning out their desk already.”

As more people became aware of the incident, BitMEX issued an official statement on their website, saying they “are aware” of the problem. The crypto platform further stated that it had taken all the necessary steps to determine the level of damage caused.

“Our team have acted immediately to contain the issue and we are taking steps to understand the extent of the impact. Rest assured that we are doing everything we can to identify the root cause of the fault and we will be in touch with any users affected by the issue,” the statement read.

Changing e-mail addresses

The leak has made many users on the platform questioning the safety of their identity, with some Twitter influencers urging them to change their e-mail addresses as soon as possible. Even with two-factor authentication, users on the platform still doubt whether their accounts would remain safe, as hackers might use the same database and similar passwords to access the accounts.

Following the leak on BitMEX, other mainstream exchanges have raised an alarm over the same by giving their own statements on the same issue. OKEx, another major crypto exchange, took to Twitter and requested its users with the same e-mail address on both platforms to change it immediately.

“If you are affected and have an OKEx account with the same email login, we recommend that you change your email for security reasons. Email change requests will be prioritized during this time,” read a message from OKEx.

Featured Image Source: BitMEX.com