All online services (including Bitcoin exchanges) are hosted on stacks of physical hard drives, called servers. These servers are maintained in data centers throughout the world. They must be secured against all possible vulnerabilities.
A primary security concern is getting hacked. In order to protect a data center from getting hacked, servers need architectural updates as businesses scale and expand to enhance efficiency and optimise operations. The upkeep of servers becomes much more important if sensitive information is involved, particularly in the case of online financial services. Routine server checks and updates, though inconvenient, are absolutely required to effectively push back against the scourge of constantly evolving hacking techniques.
Scheduled updates
As far as non-financial online services are concerned, server updates might even be a routine housekeeping activity. However, it can have huge implications for a service such as a bitcoin exchange. At Unocoin, customer interest is taken very seriously and all possible measures are undertaken to notify users well in advance of a scheduled suspension of service. A scheduled suspension of service happens when there’s an ongoing server update, an upcoming hard fork or might rarely be due to the directions of regulatory authorities (SEBI). Users will be notified well in advance through their registered email accounts/sms, in-app notifications and posts online on the Unocoin website, blog and social media accounts. Most scheduled server updates last a day or less, so you can be up and trading on Unocoin very soon. Messages are also sent out to users as soon as the service is restored. Any unexecuted pending orders are executed once the service is back online. Pending money deposits are also processed after the service is restored.
Unscheduled updates/troubleshooting
Unscheduled updates are due to unforeseen server problems that might arise as a result of DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks (where overwhelming traffic brings down the server), protective shutdowns in response to hacking attempts and other server malfunctions. Unocoin has been working hard to secure its servers against hacking and has introduced a number of security measures such as two factor authentication where, in addition to your password, a passcode is required to login every single time and for authorising crypto transactions. Messages are sent out to the customer as soon as the transaction is initiated and a call to the customer is made before approval of transactions which appears suspicious. Also, only small transactions are processed automatically and large transactions always entail a customer call.
In addition to making two factor authentication mandatory, Unocoin also sends out warning messages to users urging them NOT TO give out their account details via email/sms/call requests from fraudsters. Trading is suspended during the shutdown and users are duly notified about the shutdown. Notifications are also sent to users as soon as the service is active again. Unocoin would try its best to take the responsibility in keepings its servers safe from all the external threats but losses due to user action (resulting from malicious apps, clicking on malicious links, hacks of the user phone, email accounts etc) are not reimbursed.
In more than four years of its existence, Unocoin has fended off innumerable hacking attempts thanks to our robust security system. Through the years we’ve dedicated our resources to implementing the best security protocols to secure your funds. Unocoin takes help of expert security consultants and is also registered on hackerone.com, a leading bug hunting site, to promptly identify and fix bugs or security vulnerabilities.
So far, Unocoin has had just one limited hacking of its servers, which was identified early last June (2017) then the vulnerability was immediately fixed. Minimal fund losses were incurred and users who’d lost funds were duly reimbursed. Another attempted attack following server migration through a third party service was warded off and vulnerabilities were patched. As a financial service with utmost commitment to the safety of customer funds, Unocoin is constantly on the vigil and will continue to take all measures to secure user funds and ensure a safe experience.
Information regarding upcoming updates/unscheduled shutdowns, changes to policy, new cryptoasset support and Unocoin’s stance on hard forks can be found at blog.unocoin.com. You can also send in your enquiries to [email protected] or call the toll free number 1800–103–2646 (7am-11pm, Mon-Sat).
