Japanese Cybersecurity Firm Japan Digital Design Co. Hunts Down Zaif Cryptocurrency Exchange Hackers
Cybersecurity experts from the Japan Digital Design Co. Japanese cybersecurity company are investigating the recent attack on the Zaif cryptocurrency exchange.
The Japan Digital Design cybersecurity experts have already taken up the case in an effort to hunt for the hackers and possibly recover the cryptocurrencies they stole from Zaif. The cybersecurity experts have been evaluating funds outflow from the Zaif ever since the Japanese cryptocurrency exchange was hacked in mid-September this year.
They have also teamed up with a cybersecurity expert called Takayuki Sugiura and a different cybersecurity team known asTokyoWesterns. Japan Digital Design recently revealed that they made headway in the investigation after uncovering evidence against the hack suspects.
Japan Digital Design is also working with Japanese authorities in the investigation
Japan Digital Design released a statement on Monday saying that it identified five transactions involving the stolen cryptocurrencies. The cybersecurity firm also revealed that it shared the findings with Japanese authorities. This means that the investigations are a step closer to catching the culprits.
"In the investigation of the leaked virtual currency, remittance route has been analyzed through static analysis of the blockchain, but with this effort, by deploying the virtual currency node on a large scale,” the report stated.
The currently unknown suspects made away with Zaif’s funds and also those of its clients in September after successfully executing a hack. The hackers stole cryptocurrencies worth roughly $60 million. Some of the cryptocurrencies stolen include MonaCoin(MONA), Bitcoin (BTC), and Bitcoin Cash (BCH).
Japan Digital Design revealed that it held a hackathon in partnership with the EL Plus security firm and TokyoWestern to track the stolen cryptocurrencies. They used a cloud array that hosted MONA nodes which then evaluated the transactions initiated by the hackers during the theft. They also leveraged other blockchain features to collect more data about the hack, such as the IP addresses that made it possible to trace the stolen funds.
FSA demands improvements and clients to be refunded
Meanwhile, Japan’s financial watchdog, the Financial Services Agency (FSA) handed a business improvement order to Tech Bureau. The regulatory body is also seeking more information that will allow it to understand how the hack was successfully executed. The Tech Bureau also revealed that users who lost their funds will be reimbursed once a technology firm called Fisco assumes control of Zaif. Fisco plans to refund users using its own cryptocurrencies.