Hackers steal 140M in hack of central bank service provider

p The theft occurred after the hackers allegedly compromised an employee of CM a software service provider by buying the employees login credentials ppCM Software the service provider that connects Brazils Central Bank to local banks and other financial institutions was hacked on Wednesday leading to 800 million Brazilian reais 140 million in stolen funds from six institutions connected to the central bankppThe hack occurred after an employee of CM allegedly sold his login credentials to the threat actor for roughly 2700 allowing them to access the software system and steal funds held in reserve accounts according to Brazilian news outlet São PauloppOnchain detective ZachXBT said the hackers converted an estimated 30 million to 40 million of the stolen funds to Bitcoin BTC Ether ETH and USDt USDT which they laundered through Latin American exchanges and overthecounter OTC trading platformsppThe incident highlights the growing risk of cybersecurity threats facing centralized software systems and servers where single points of failure can lead to significant financial losses or the theft of sensitive datappRelated Crypto losses hit 25B in first half of 2025 but hacks fall in Q2 CertiKppCentralized digital systems are inherently vulnerable to hacks infiltration ransom attempts and software exploits These vulnerabilities are exacerbated by artificial intelligence and AI tools ppCentralized crypto exchanges CEXs recorded an uptick in hacks in Q3 and Q4 2024 as hackers turned their sights to digital platforms with single points of failure according to ChainalysisppEran Barak CEO of Shielded Technologies the developer behind the Midnight data protection blockchain told Cointelegraph that privacy tools will be increasingly necessary to ward off AIassisted hackersppThe CEO said cybercriminals see massive returns in targeting centralized systems that can contain millions of passwords sensitive documents or billions of dollars in capital which makes these systems attractive targetsppDecentralized blockchain technologies like zeroknowledge proofs ZKPs remove this temptation by forcing hackers to target individual wallets or accounts instead of a centralized database containing millions of records Barak saidppTheir return on investment ROI would be one record instead of millions not worth it They are going to go elsewhere the CEO saidppMagazine Coinbase hack shows the law probably wont protect you Heres whypp Cointelegraph is committed to providing independent highquality journalism across the crypto blockchain AI fintech and iGaming industries To support the free use of our website and sustain our editorial operations some of the links published on our site may be affiliate links This means we may receive a commission if you click through and take actionsuch as signing up for a service or making a purchase These commissions come at no additional cost to you Our affiliate relationships help us maintain an openaccess platform but they do not influence our editorial decisions All news reviews and analysis are produced with journalistic independence and integrity Thank you for supporting responsible and accessible reporting p