Bithumb is investigating a data breach after an outsider accessed its internal mobile work system on October 27. The South Korean cryptocurrency exchange confirmed that employee information was exposed but said it has not determined whether customer records were also accessed.

The affected system supports staff messaging and daily office work. After discovering the intrusion, Bithumb reported the incident to the Korea Internet & Security Agency and the Personal Information Protection Commission, the country's data protection authority.

Bithumb said the employee system operates separately from its trading platform and that the breach could not provide access to customers' crypto holdings. No stolen digital assets have been reported so far. That separation is the detail most relevant to exchange customers, since trading platforms hold customer assets while the compromised system handled internal staff communications.

Investigators have not publicly identified the attacker. Bithumb has not disclosed how many people were affected, which employee records were exposed, or whether trading services, including deposits and withdrawals, experienced any disruption. The exchange has not provided a date for completing its review. Its findings will determine whether customer information was included in the exposed employee system.

Other South Korean Financial Firms Report Attacks

Daishin Securities confirmed that hackers obtained personal and credit information belonging to 38,490 customers. The brokerage detected unauthorized access to a server linked to online account openings on October 17.

Mirae Asset Global Investments said it blocked suspicious access to some of its web systems. The company reported no exposure of investor information or personal credit records.

The cases involve different companies and systems, and authorities have not reported evidence that the attacks share a common source. Separately, a Keystone customer data breach exposed shipping and contact details, as previously reported by CoinCentral.

Financial Regulator Begins Inspections

South Korea's Financial Supervisory Service, the country's financial regulator, sent inspection teams to Bithumb and Daishin Securities. Officials are reviewing the incidents and may expand their examinations if they find legal violations. The next developments to watch are Bithumb's conclusion on customer records and whether the inspections expand.

Governor Lee Chan-jin urged financial firms to strengthen computer security during an October 28 meeting with banking executives. He warned that attackers could use artificial intelligence to identify weaknesses.

Exchange security has also drawn attention overseas. India's CoinDCX recently reported a $16 million loss linked to an older wallet system while saying that customer balances remained safe, according to CoinCentral.

Bithumb faced a separate control failure in February, when it mistakenly credited users with 620,000 Bitcoin instead of a planned cash reward. The company recovered most of the mistaken credits.

Other exchange attacks remain under investigation. Blockchain researchers recently tracked $19 million in transfers from wallets linked to an earlier Bitget breach, as reported by CoinCentral.

Original source: CoinCentral.