Last weekend's hack of cryptocurrency repository Doge Vault was worse than previously thought because it gave attackers full access to the underlying system, including the databases that stored private keys for all user wallet addresses and cryptographically protected user passwords.

The exposure means that users should presume all Doge Vault addresses are compromised and immediately cease using any of them to transfer funds, Doge Vault officials advised in a brief announcement posted Thursday. Although the announcement said that passwords were protected by a "strong one-way hashing algorithm," users should presume the large majority of them will be converted into plaintext in a matter of hours, days, or weeks, depending on the specifics of the Doge Vault hashing regimen. As a result, people should stop using the passwords on all sites. Doge Vault users should also be on the lookout for highly targeted phishing attacks, since the hack exposed user account data that may be considered sensitive.

"It is believed the attacker gained access to the node on which Doge Vault’s virtual machines were stored, providing them with full access to our systems," Thursday's announcement stated. "It is likely our database was also exposed containing user account information; passwords were stored using a strong one-way hashing algorithm. All private keys for addresses are presumed compromised, please do not transfer any funds to Doge Vault addresses."

The monetary loss was also worse than previously thought. Hackers were able to make off with about 160 million Dogecoins valued at almost $74,000 . That's up from the $56,000 worth of the pilfered cryptocurrency estimated earlier. The officials said they would "make every effort to refund all recovered Dogecoins" and said that additional details will be released once an investigation is completed. People who lost Dogecoins can direct queries to support@dogevault but should hold off on filing claims for now. Doge Vault once promoted itself as a "free, secure, online Dogecoin wallet."

Over the past few years, hacking thefts involving Bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies have become increasingly common. The storage of bits arguably worth large sums of money on poorly secured systems is too tempting a target for blackhat hackers to resist. In recently months, crooks have developed botnets that automate the process. People who use cryptocurrencies should store only limited amounts in "hot" wallets and keep the rest on systems not connected to the Internet.