Critpto, hackers steal millions of dollars from Binance
A blockchain linked to Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world, was hit by a $ 570 million hack. The attack, which took place on Thursday, is among the largest cryptocurrency thefts ever seen
Hackers stole over half a billion dollars worth of digital currency tokens from cryptocurrency giant Binance.
The funds were withdrawn from BSC Token Hub, a cross-chain bridge that allows customers to transfer tokens between two related blockchains, in this case managed by cryptocurrency exchange Binance. Hackers moved the BNB tokens out of the Binance network.
"The exploit on a cross-chain bridge, BSC Token Hub, led to extra BNB," Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao said in a tweet posted immediately after the attack. "We asked all validators to temporarily suspend BSC [Binance Smart Chain]."
Also on social media, the Binance CEO updated users reassuring that the Binance team has addressed and solved the problem and that "your funds are safe". “We apologize for the inconvenience and will provide further updates accordingly,” concluded Changppeng Zhao.
But "Binance's position as the largest cryptocurrency exchange means Friday's exploit is a major blow to the digital assets sector as it struggles to regain confidence after a plunge in stock prices," the Financial Times said. .
All the details.
THE THEFT IMMEDIATELY FROM BINANCE
In total, the hackers drained 2 million BNB tokens worth about $ 284 each – about $ 570 million at current prices – from the network, Binance's BNB chain said Friday.
In 2019 Binance developed Binance Chain, now known as Bnb chain. Like other blockchains, it features a native token, called BNB, which can be traded or used in games and other applications.
An earlier estimate by the company placed the total amount withdrawn in a range of $ 100 million to $ 110 million. The company also said it managed to freeze $ 7 million in funds with the help of its security partners, CNBC reports.
WHAT HAPPENED AT THE BNB CHAIN
BNB Chain suspended its blockchain for several hours before resuming around 06:30 GMT on Friday, it said in a tweet. In an "ecosystem update", the BNB Chain team apologized for the exploit and said they will hold a series of votes to determine whether to freeze the breached funds and whether a bounty should be offered to catch the hacker perpetrator. .
“Looking at the bigger picture, we have seen a number of attacks against vulnerabilities in cross-chain bridges,” the blog post reads. "We will openly share the details of the audit and all the lessons on how to implement more advanced security measures to support these vulnerabilities."
VULNERABLE THE BRIDGE BLCOCKHAIN?
Blockchain bridges are tools used to transfer cryptocurrencies between different applications. Criminals have increasingly targeted them, with about $ 2 billion stolen in 13 different hacks, mostly this year, researcher Chainalysis said in August.
As The Verge explains, “these bridges store very large amounts of cryptocurrency tokens at any given time. While the previous era of the cryptocurrency industry was characterized by frequent attacks on exchanges, security has greatly improved and a hacker would have to breach numerous layers of security to withdraw funds. With cryptocurrency bridges, the ability to forge a valid transaction is in some cases enough to earn a nine-figure sum ”.
In March, Reuters recalls, hackers stole about $ 615 million from a blockchain bridge called the Ronin Bridge, in one of the largest cryptographic heists ever recorded.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/innovazione/critpto-hacker-rubano-milioni-di-dollari-a-binance/ on Fri, 07 Oct 2022 14:42:36 +0000.