Key Takeaways
Coinbase delayed public disclosure of a knowledge breach involving TaskUs till Might, regardless of being conscious since January.
The breach was linked to a TaskUs worker leaking buyer knowledge in change for bribes.
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Crypto change Coinbase was conscious of a buyer knowledge leak at its outsourcing associate, TaskUs, as early as January, months earlier than its public disclosure in Might, Reuters reported Monday, citing six individuals with data of the incident.
TaskUs insiders advised Reuters {that a} TaskUs worker in India snapped a photograph of her laptop display screen along with her private cellphone. In change for bribes, the worker and a suspected confederate are believed to have shared Coinbase buyer knowledge with cybercriminals.
In accordance with a January report from India-based media outlet Monetary Specific, TaskUs abruptly terminated over 300 staff in Indore on account of mission closure and accusations of fraud.
TaskUs confirmed it fired two staff in early 2025 for illegally accessing consumer data.
Whereas the agency didn’t identify the consumer, sources confirmed it was Coinbase. TaskUs said these people have been recruited as half of a bigger, coordinated felony marketing campaign concentrating on Coinbase, which additionally affected different service suppliers.
The incident got here to mild after Coinbase initiated a $20 million reward program to establish and prosecute these accountable for the incident. The corporate said that bribed customer support brokers leaked prospects’ knowledge, however the breach didn’t compromise passwords, personal keys, or buyer funds.
In accordance with a Might SEC disclosure, Coinbase projected potential prices of as much as $400 million. The corporate famous that though it had recognized cases of contractors accessing worker knowledge “and not using a enterprise want” in “earlier months,” it solely acknowledged these occasions as a part of a wider extortion marketing campaign upon receiving an extortion demand on Might 11.
“We minimize ties with the TaskUs personnel concerned and different abroad brokers, and tightened controls,” Coinbase advised Reuters.
In a current submitting with Maine authorities, Coinbase disclosed that the info leak affected over 69,000 customers. The breach was reportedly undetected from December 2024 till Might 2025.
The corporate is cooperating with the US Division of Justice and different regulation enforcement our bodies to analyze.
TaskUs is among the world’s main international outsourcing firms. It’s headquartered in New Braunfels, Texas.
The corporate supplies again workplace and customer support assist, content material moderation, synthetic intelligence, operations assist, and danger and response companies to among the world’s most progressive firms.
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