Kraken releases new security updates to combat phishing attacks

Crypto exchange Kraken’s Chief Security Officer, Nick Percoco, announced the release of four new security enhancements, on the Kraken platform that will be made available to all the exchange’s customers from today. Percoco further detailed the security updates in four different features named: Security Shield, Security Checkup, Device Approvals, and Device Management, with each step having its own purpose.

While Security Shield would indicate the security state of users’ accounts, Security Checkup step would make the process of securing accounts easier for users. Meanwhile, the roll-out of the Device Approvals feature would combat phishing attacks in particular. The feature would alert users if the system detects an attempt to sign in from an unrecognized device. The exchange believed that such device-approval mechanisms would mitigate 60% of phishing attacks.

In addition to this, the security releases would also update Kraken’s Security Center that includes Session & Device management. According to the Chief Security Office, Device Management would be the next step that would follow the approval of a device. This would allow users to see and manage their devices as well as users’ signed-in sessions. Percoco also said that users will be able to see all their active sessions and approved devices, something that can be revoked entirely or in any combination of these.

Kraken is said to have a large number of new security enhancements on its roadmap that will be rolled out throughout this year and continue until 2021. The Chief Security Officer revealed that these future releases would address authentication enhancements, more activity logging, and alternative methods for receiving critical notifications. However, the announcement did not mention if these security enhancements were due to any current increase in phishing attacks or whether its users had lost funds.