Crypto Hack Weekly Report: Threat Analysis and Major Escalation of Hacks

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The past week features the first-ever AI poisoning attack, as well as phishing-related theft and a large-scale attack on a DeFi platform. They reveal new patterns of attacks and explain why it is important for the blockchain industry to step up security.

This was the first reported AI poisoning attack in the cryptocurrency space and the victim lost $2500 from the Solana wallet where he stored his digital currency. The user used ChatGPT to build a meme token sniping bot for the Solana-based platform called Pump.fun. 

However, the attacker locked the user’s profile and put the API link containing the backdoor in the conversation. the attackers were able to access the user’s private wallet keys. SOL, USDC, and several meme coins, which were stolen were transferred to a wallet that had over 281 other similar trades connected to it. 

Five people associated with hacking groups 0ktapus and Scattered Spider have been indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). These groups coordinated different phishing scams aimed at gaining access to employees’ credentials of tech companies and cryptocurrency companies. The hackers took advantage and got around the organisation’s two-factor authentication, or 2FA, and made away with $ 6·3 m worth of cryptographic currency besides other information. 

These phishing campaigns targeted four different countries and of high sophistication in the methods used. The accused now risk getting 20 years in prison should they be convicted. 

The decentralized finance DeFi platform based on the Fantom blockchain was targeted within a smart deal compromise and finished up losing $7 mln. The attacker used Tornado Cash, a privacy-based platform built on Ethereum to wash coins and switch them to the Fantom network and exploited Polter Finance vulnerabilities. 

To that end, Polter Finance suspended trading operations, sent out reports to cross-chain bridges regarding the unauthorized transfer of stolen assets and worked with authorities to track the involved addresses. 

This week’s events show the growing complexity of cyber threats aimed at cryptocurrencies and using AI, phishing, and DeFi weak spots. Though innovations such as AI and cross-chains are very accessible they come with lots of risks as well. 

For the benefit of both the investors and developers the cryptocurrency industry needs to be more proactive in security measures, employ validation techniques on codes, monitor threats and work with blockchain security companies. This is crucial to keep the trust and develop a healthy decentralized finance ecosystem making these defenses stronger is necessary.