What’s Making Crypto Exchanges Vulnerable to CyberAttacks

The cryptocurrency industry is grappling with a rising issue: stolen assets from high-profile cyberattacks, with users often unable to recover their funds. This ongoing problem has highlighted significant security vulnerabilities within crypto platforms, leading to the loss of millions of dollars in digital assets. 

In this interview with MediaNama journalist Sharveya Parasnis, Hilal Ahmad Lone, Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) at Liminal Custody, discusses the challenges of securing the crypto space and preventing such breaches. Lone explains how Liminal Custody’s holistic approach to security, incorporating technical, operational, and compliance controls, helps protect digital assets from cyber threats. He also compares the security frameworks of traditional financial institutions with the evolving practices in cryptocurrency, stressing the need for stronger governance and regulations. Addressing the rise of state-backed cyber actors like North Korea’s Lazarus Group, Lone shares his insights on the future of crypto security and the steps needed to safeguard users’ assets from theft and fraud.

Watch the entire interview:

Excerpts from the Interview With Hilal Ahmad Lone:

Sharveya: Hello, and welcome to Media Nama. This is Sharveya, and today I’m speaking with Hilal Ahmed Lone, the Chief Information Security Officer at Liminal Custody. Liminal is a tech company that creates secure wallet infrastructure for its clients, many of whom are in the cryptocurrency and Web3 space. The cryptocurrency industry is currently facing a crisis with numerous incidents of cyber attacks against notable exchanges, leading to the theft of hundreds of millions of dollars globally. We will be speaking to Hilal about the challenges of ensuring security for crypto firms and how the industry can deal with such serious problems. Thanks for being here, Hilal.

Hilal: Thanks for having me. It’s a pleasure being here.

Sharveya: So, in simple terms, how does liminal custody help ensure the security of its customers’ platforms?

Hilal: That’s a loaded question. So I think it’s a holistic approach. So we consider security and trust to be basically the funding and building blocks of the business. So we take it extremely seriously. And the way we do it is through a holistic approach. So we have technical controls, we have operational controls, we have regulatory and compliance-related controls, as well as basically having processes in that is supported by the technology to support basically getting all these things done and helping ensure that the controls are working properly. So it’s a combination of both technology processes and basically having to make sure that it’s all something that’s built into the design of the business as well as the product.

Sharveya: Okay. Could you go a little bit into detail about what your wallet infrastructure is like?…