We separate ourselves from the olden times on the basis of many factors, but if there is one thing that still connects us to our ancestors, it’s our shared commitment towards continuous progression. This commitment is born out of humans’ fascination with the idea of exploring beyond the given boundaries. Furthermore, by making big discoveries time and again, we have been able to gauge what we are capable of, and as it turns out, there is not really an end to it. As you can guess, such a realization is, more often than not, likely to bring some irrational confidence, which to be fair is needed under certain conditions, but it can also quickly become detrimental. A perfect example within this context is delivered through the tale of technology. From a holistic standpoint, technology will certainly go down as the most important man-made creation of all-time. However, it’s only when you look between the lines, you are able to locate the cracks. The integration of technology in the world’s core structures made them vulnerable like never before. Anyone with the basic tech knowhow was now in a position to infiltrate these structures, and that’s exactly what happened during America’s cybersecurity crisis in 2020. With everyone relying on the digital realm due to a global pandemic, hackers were able to target a bigger surface, resulting in unprecedented devastation for the country. It’s, of course, not to say that the attacks have stooped since. They are still coming all guns blazing at our systems, and it was the popular trading platform, Robinhood, that happened to become their latest target. The attack was officially confirmed by the company few days ago, but new reports suggest there might be more to it than what meets the eye.
According some screenshots secured by Motherboard, the Robinhood attack was much worse than the initial estimations. These screenshots convey that the hackers were somehow able to access sensitive controls like Disable MFA (multi-factor authentication), Add to Trusted Device Email Code Whitelist, and even the ACH bank transfers done by users. If numbers are to be believed, data of over 7 million users was accessed in total. While in most cases the information fell within the parameters of email address and full name, 10 users were reported to have “more extensive account details revealed.”
One of these 10 users saw their entire chat, which was loaded with personal details, with the customer support being leaked. Another user had their details such as account balance, portfolio value, and verified phone number compromised during the attack. Even though Robinhood has reassured that there were no changes made to any user accounts, it is still reaching out to those affected.