Police in New Zealand are making “excellent progress” in their Cryptopia hack investigation, according to an official press release.
Hackers managed to gain access to the exchange’s hot wallets before siphoning out more than $11 million worth of cryptocurrency.
The police media centre announced in January that investigations were underway in regards to the hack, with the Canterbury CIB and specialist staff from the police High Tech Crime Unit being assigned to the case.
The latest update states that an international effort is being coordinated to track down not only the perpetrators, but also the funds.
“The stolen cryptocurrency is being actively tracked by police and specialists worldwide due to the nature of the cryptocurrency blockchains being publicly available,” Detective Inspector Murton said.
Keep an eye on this page for updates on the situation: https://t.co/TWZkinsUet pic.twitter.com/1c5ezYq27u
— Cryptopia Exchange (@Cryptopia_NZ) January 28, 2019
He added: “Excellent progress is being made in the investigation and we are working with Cryptopia management plus current and former employees who have been providing valuable assistance.”
Although significant progress is being made, the police said that it will still take a considerable amount of time before the case comes to a conclusion, citing the “complexity of the cyber environment.”
The statement continued: “We are working closely with our international partners and cybercrime experts to continue the investigation.
“Cryptopia’s managers are on site at their Christchurch address and police are expected to finish at the premises by the end of next week (Friday 15 February).
“This investigation is expected to take a considerable amount of time to resolve due to the complexity of the cyber environment.”
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