Swiss Bitcoin Pay suspends service after suspected intrusion

Swiss Bitcoin Pay has suspended its services due to a suspected intrusion into its internal systems, raising concerns about potential exposure of customer data. The Switzerland-based Bitcoin payments provider announced the incident on September 14 and is currently investigating the breach and securing its infrastructure. The data that may have been accessed includes customer email addresses, Bitcoin addresses, International Bank Account Numbers, transaction histories and hashed passwords.

However, the company maintains that user funds are safe and would be returned in full if debts were owed. The extent of the intrusion is still under investigation, with details on how the suspected intruder gained access, how long the unauthorized access may have persisted, the number of affected accounts, and whether the exposed information was copied or exfiltrated remaining undisclosed.

Swiss Bitcoin Pay operates a model where customer-controlled wallets are used, and Bitcoin received through the service is automatically transferred to merchants' designated wallets. Despite the lack of specifics on the suspected intrusion method, the exposure of email addresses, Bitcoin addresses, IBANs, and transaction records may provide attackers with useful information for phishing or impersonation attempts.

The company has not disclosed whether law-enforcement authorities or data-protection regulators have been notified. The shutdown affects merchants' infrastructure for creating and managing payments, not the Bitcoin network itself. While customers' details may not directly reveal their identities, when combined with other leaked information, they can increase the risk of fraud or impersonation.

As of now, Swiss Bitcoin Pay has not provided a timeline for the restoration of payment processing, dashboard access, or related services.