Hackers have reportedly broken into the black market site Silk Road 2 and stole more than $2.7 million worth of Bitcoins.
Al Jazeera reports all that money was stolen from not only the website but also its users. Not only that, but it adds the site reportedly didn't have any way to prevent this from happening.
Time adds Silk Road 2, which doesn't use regular currency, might have been hacked because of a small loophole with Bitcoins that opens them up to theft.
Silk Road 2 has only been online for a few months. The site was created after the feds shut down the original Silk Road last year. Silk Road 2 has a lot more security features than the original site. That includes a requirement that users be invited before signing up.
But was the site really hacked? CNN notes there's some speculation that the people behind Silk Road 2 themselves could be the culprits.
"Many have accused the site's administrators of faking the hack and stealing the money themselves. But in a world where drugs are outright illegal — and there's little to no regulation of Bitcoin transactions — it's difficult to prove anything."
But so far it's all just speculation. A writer for The Washington Post says the alleged hack shouldn't be all that shocking.
"Perhaps the surprising thing is not that Silk Road is turning into a mess, but that it worked reasonably effectively for as long as it did." (Via The Washington Post)
And groups using Bitcoins are showing signs of vulnerability. The BBC reports this is the third attack in the last week on groups that use Bitcoins as its main form of currency.
The BBC adds the price of a single Bitcoin has fallen about 25 percent to roughly $620 after news of the recent attacks against Silk Road 2 and other groups.
