Binance says at least $100 million stolen in blockchain attack

Date:
Fri, 07 Oct 2022 14:18:01 +0000

Description:
Binance says around $100 million was taken, but analysts argue it might be five times as much

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Criminals were able to exploit a flaw in Binance Bridge and tried to get away with at least $100 million in cryptocurrencies, the company has admitted.

Binance Bridge is a cross-chain platform that allows cryptocurrency users to exchange tokens from one chain (for example, Ethereum), to another (for example, Binance Chain). The bridges are often riddled with flaws, and as
such are a major target for cybercriminals. Some of the biggest crypto heists came as a result of an exploited bridge (think Ronin bridge, Wormhole, Harmony, and others). In fact, blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis recently said that more than $2 billion were stolen in bridge hacks, this year alone. Creating tokens out of thin air

In this particular instance, the attacker did not steal anyones tokens but rather discovered a flaw that allowed them to create additional tokens out of thin air. In a Reddit post published late last night, Binance representatives explained that someone abused an exploit on a cross-chain bridge, BSC Token Hub, which resulted in extra BNB.

We have asked all validators to temporarily suspend BSC. The issue is contained now. Your funds are safe. We apologize for the inconvenience and will provide further updates accordingly, the announcement reads.

Binance moved in to pause the entire chain until the issue was resolved,
while Tether blacklisted the account. Read more

Hackers steal $100m from another breached crypto bridge

The maker of Axie Infinity just suffered one of the largest heists in

crypto history

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However the jury is still out on exactly how much money was taken, and where it ended up. While Binances Reddit post claims anywhere between $100M and $110M, a DeFi developer going under the pseudonym foobar claims the figure is closer to 2 million BNB - or $600 million.

Thanks to the community and our internal and external security partners, an estimated $7M has already been frozen, the Reddit post concludes. While Binances speed at tackling the issue is commendable, it raised the question
of the chains decentralization among many cryptocurrency users. Here are the best endpoint protection services around

Via: BleepingComputer



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/news/binance-says-at-least-dollar100-million-stolen- in-blockchain-attack/


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