TOKYO - Japan's financial regulator on Friday swooped on Coincheck Inc with surprise checks of its systems and said it had asked the Tokyo-based Coincheck to fix flaws before $530 million cyber theft exchange to fix flaws in its computer networks well before hackers stole $530 million of digital money last week. Security gaps in Coincheck's systems were among the reasons the exchange had not been given official approval to operate, the Financial Services Agency said. The regulator's knowledge of flaws in Coincheck's systems before the theft will likely draw further focus on Japan's approach to regulating cryptocurrency exchanges. More recently, South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Youbit shut down and filed for bankruptcy after being hacked twice last year. Coincheck has turned over communication records to police in Tokyo investigating the heist, the Nikkei business daily said on Thursday.

Source: Economic Times February 03, 2018 06:33 UTC