FTX Claims Portal Resumes Operations, Assures Account Safety

• FTX announces its customer claim portal’s return after a security breach.
• The claims agent, Kroll, was exposed to a security breach in August, following which FTX froze accounts.
• The platform assures that the accounts are safe and their freezing was a precautionary method.

As per recent reports, the bankrupt FTX’s customer claim portal has resumed its operations, following a severe cyber security breach. Reactivating the frozen accounts and resuming activities, FTX assured the implementation of stronger security measures.

Previously, in August 2023, the claims agent Kroll was identified to have experienced a cyber security attack that “compromised non-sensitive customer data of certain claimants in the pending bankruptcy case”. Following the issue, FTX announced the “precautionary measure” of temporarily freezing the affected accounts, affirming that the customer claims portal remains safe, with no FTX passwords or KYC information exposed.  

Though the security incident reportedly exposed non-sensitive customer data, the platform assured that funds and account passwords were unaffected. In a detailed account, Kroll elucidated on the breach that targeted a T-Mobile US account owned by a Kroll employee. The agent’s device was hacked via the “highly sophisticated SIM Swapping” method. The post read,

“As a result, it appears the threat actor gained access to certain files containing personal information of bankruptcy claimants in the matters of BlockFi, FTX, and Genesis.”

In a tweet dated September 17, FTX announced the claims portal’s return with additional security measures in an attempt to block any further possible attacks. The firm informed its customers that they could continue submitting claims in the portal and that no systems were affected by the hack, reiterating that the freezing of accounts was just a “precautionary measure”.

In related news, last week, FTX was granted to liquidate $3.4 billion worth of crypto assets to facilitate the reimbursement of creditors. The news took headlines within the community as experts predicted a prolonged uncertainty in the market, especially with the top cryptocurrency Solana (SOL).