eToro experienced a DDOS Attack and was down for some time last week. This event brought forth the vulnerability of online transactions, including online forex trading and cryptocurrency.
International forex broker newscaster Forexmagnates on Friday (4/7) reported that eToro, one of the world's best known forex trading service provider, suffered DDOS Attack since Thursday and was down for some time last week.
Last Thursday and Friday marked as one of the best period in forex trading calendar, since major volatility drive, the US NFP release, coincided with ECB policy meeting. However, apparently it was bad days for eToro and some of its clients. eToro reportedly have been under DDoS attack since 07:12 GMT on Thursday (3/7). As the result, many clients complained with various issues, such as app functionality and log in troubles. The company have stated that they have robust systems, and is working to resolve the problem. However, at the last count, the attack is still ongoing, and there are small glitches when we tried to access eToro website.
Online Forex Trading And Hacking
The attack reminds us of Bitcoin hacking in February. The incident dragged down one of the biggest bitcoin exchanges at the time, MT.Gox, and inflicted damages on several other bitcoin-related service providers. Compared to that case, the attack suffered by eToro seems to be more targeted, though currently we still haven't learned about the reason behind it nor the purpose of the hacker (or hackers?).
This event brought forth the vulnerability of online transactions, including online forex trading and cryptocurrency, that is their susceptibility to hacking. US-regulated forex broker OANDA too, reportedly hacked on March this year, although there has been no effect on its forex trading services at the time.
System security from hacking attack so far have not been a particular concern among traders when they choose their broker. Legal and financial security is being thought of as much more important conditions for an ideal broker. However, considering hacking attacks are getting much more rampant, we should take other kinds of security into account, including payment procedures and system security. Forex broker too, hopefully will increase their awareness of this matter and boost their system security accordingly.