Blockchain and its history with hackers
Hackers and hacking exist in all industries. Healthcare, finance, you name it, some hack has probably been committed that has caused a nuisance.
Web3 has not been shy scammers trying to make a quick turnover through fraudulent means. After all, the space is still evolving and not much has been put in place in terms of legislation and legal policies that protect users legally.
We watch more some of the biggest hacks committed on the blockchain organizations, the results and how you can be safe when playing on the blockchain.
Some examples of crypto-related hacks
Below we will list some of the most infamous attacks in the short history of the crypto game. If you’re already familiar with it, these companies and projects that were targeted may come as a surprise. No one is really confident in the blockchain it seems…
Cloud Mavis
Our first crypto gaming scandal comes from Sky Mavis. They are the team behind Axie Infinity review, one of the most played NFT related games out there at the moment.
Back in March 2022, a hack was performed that meant a whopping $625 million was stolen from the Ronin Network. This is the blockchain used to build and scale the Axie Infinity ecosystem.
Private security keys were used by the hacker to access the stolen funds through compromised nodes. As a result, funds were transferred to and from the Ronin chain.
It took officials from the Sky Mavis team almost a week to notice the first wrongdoings. If it wasn’t for a random user trying to withdraw another 5000 $ETH, who knows how long it would have taken for action to be taken!
Fortunately, funds were returned and Axie Infinity has grown tremendously welll.
Solana Blockchain
Solana was one of the largest tokens by market cap until the recent FTX trial that saw millions wiped from it. Back in 2022, amidst the hype for Solana, the blockchain fell victim to a hacker and their cunning ways.
Round $5.2 million was drained from over 7,000 wallets back in August last year. As the attacks were felt, it caused the price of Solana to drop considerably, at around 8% at the time.
Users who had their assets within hot wallets, such as Phantom, Trust Wallet etc, were the ones who became victims.
An interesting thing about this attack was the intentions of the attacker. They asked to keep some of the stolen crypto as a reward for finding the flaws in Solana’s infrastructure.
Solana is a very active blockchain. Teams and developers build games, NFTs and dApps on theirs. With how fast the transaction speed is and the interoperability present, it has long proved to be a really optimistic blockchain despite all the setbacks it has faced.
Nomad Blockchain Bridge
Our third example of a top crypto-related hack comes from Nomad. Nomad is another bridge that allows the interoperability model to be used. Transactions from different blockchains can happen.
When Nomad bridge was hacked, another $200 million was stolen by thieves. Nomad described itself before this attack as a “secure cross-chain messaging” blockchain service.
Obviously not in this case.
A flaw in the code allowed attackers to withdraw more funds than were originally deposited. The house of cards fell when several hackers noticed this and quickly acted on it.
It was through a simple update to their services that hackers snuck in. Crazy stuff.
How to keep crypto safe then?
After all the hacking talk, you’re probably wondering, “how can I prevent that from happening to me?” Or at the very least, “how can I reduce the chances of that happening?”
The answers are quite simple, they are as follows:
- Buy a Ledger Hardware Wallet
- Do not store your belongings on a chain
- Keep your credentials private
- Always have security measures and passwords in place
Although it seems tough at first glance, the security of the blockchain is quite simple. Once you familiarize yourself with the jargon and know how, it becomes almost muscle memory.
Hope you enjoyed this quick guide. Always perform the necessary due diligence on the blockchain list.
Good luck investing!
