Recently on February 05, 2016 users of the Gyft platform were notified that two of the cloud providers they used were compromised. From October 5th to December 18th an “unknown party” accessed these areas without authorization. The company says that no credit cards were compromised and acted accordingly with updating security measures. One nice attribute is Gyft accepts Bitcoin and those that use the digital currency with the service have absolutely nothing to worry about.
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The press release reads:
Beginning on October 3 and continuing through December 18, 2015, an unknown party accessed without authorization two cloud providers used by Gyft. This party was able to view or download certain Gyft user information stored with these cloud providers and made a file containing some of that user information.
Gyft ‘May Have Been Compromised’
The company founded by Vinny Lingham and Mark Levitt in January of 2012 sells redeemable gift cards that can be used with a mobile phone. Users can purchase cards to a vast selection of shops from Whole Foods Markets, Starbucks, Best Buy, and a whole lot more. After the gift card is bought with either a credit card, Paypal, or Bitcoin the cards can be stored on the user’s mobile device for future use. The company has been popular among the cryptocurrency crowd as it has allowed them to use the virtual money on the Gyft platform. When cards are purchased with the digital currency clients of Gyft also receive a discount when using Bitcoin and can be used for a discount on the next purchase.
The company has had a solid run with security throughout the years, until now. Users have been notified via email and are asked to review their purchases from October until now to see if there are any issues. The company had issued a complete password change, and they recommend changing if you have not done so yet. However, most users were already required to immediately change their login credentials. They say the attackers potentially gained access to names and gift card numbers. These cards could have been used to make unauthorized purchases, and any unusual behavior should be reported.
Gift card numbers could have been used to make unauthorized purchases. In addition, Gyft log-in credentials may have been compromised.
Bitcoin Users Not Affected
When the news of Gyft’s compromise hit the forums within the Bitcoin community, many had very little fear or the incident. In a Bitcoin forum post called “As a bitcoin only user of Gyft, my reaction to the news they were hacked,” people were showing signs of very little worry. A lot of cryptocurrency Gyft users could care less about the hack because there is no credit card info or Paypal account to obtain. One reddit user writes:
With Bitcoin payments the money is sent, but no details are required, is this not a better system than holding the banking details of hundreds possibly thousands of customers when these big companies clearly cannot keep their data safe. Currently, the blockchain looks a better option.
This story is just another great example of the phrase “Bitcoin user not affected.” As the digital currency, it offers users the assurance that their data is completely safe because it’s not needed for transactions. Hopefully, people will start to recognize these advantages in a world filled with constant data breaches.
What do you think about the Gyft compromise? Let us know in the comments below.
Images courtesy of Gyft’s Website, Pixbay, and Shutterstock
