The crypto space has always been full of hacks, breaches, and scams, but now Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum, has become a victim.
According to reports over the weekend, a hacker targeted Vitalik’s X (Twitter) account. After sharing malicious links through the hacked account, the hacker stole nearly $700,000 from unwary users.
Read also: China-backed hackers steal Microsoft’s digital consumer key
How it went down
The hacker who got into Vitalik Buterin’s account the following announced a new set of special NFTs from software provider Consensys in a post that has since been taken down.
The link, viewable to the 4.9 million people who follow Vitalik Buterin on X, told users to connect their wallets and mint the NFTs. Unknown to the victims, the link was a trap to get them to connect their wallets so that all their money could be stolen.
Vitalik Buterin’s father, Dmitry Buterin, posted on Twitter on Sunday that his son’s account had been hacked:
“Ignore this post; it looks like Vitalik’s account has been hacked. He is working to get entry back.
But sadly, the crime had already been committed.
ZachXBT, a well-known blockchain researcher, says that when people clicked on the bogus link, they lost over $691,000. Bok Khoo, who works on Ethereum and is known as Bokky Poobah on X, says he has lost money on his CryptoPunk NFT collection. At the time of this writing, the minimum price for a CryptoPunk NFT is 46.99 ETH, which is about $76,000.
ZachXBT said later on the second day that CryptoPunk #3983, which is worth 153.62 ETH (about $250,000), is the most expensive NFT that has been stolen so far.
Vitalik Buterin hasn’t said anything about the situation yet, but people are sure his account must have been hacked because he may not have taken enough security measures.
Crypto hacks occur frequently
This new social media hack joins a growing list that has stolen millions of tokens. Immunefi estimates that hackers and rug pulls will cost Web3 platforms over $1 billion in 2023. The analysis examined 211 cases and determined that crypto investors lost $54 million in one month.
Remember that hackers invaded the Terra blockchain website in August and added malicious links? This series of hacks questions Twitter’s security. Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao stated the platform’s security isn’t as good as traditional financial accounts and platforms.
“Two-factor authentication, a login ID different from the handle or email, etc. are needed. Hackers tried different passwords to brute-force my Twitter account, locking it several times. Before “Elon age,” this was true.” Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao stated.
Two-factor security is a great hacker defense. Users must verify their identity with two pieces of information before creating an account. Twitter only offers two-factor security for paying users.
On the other hand, some Twitter users think a SIM swap hack was used to break into Vitalik Buterin’s account. SIM swapping means controlling someone’s phone number to get around two-factor security measures on cryptocurrency exchanges or social media sites.
It’s not sure yet, though, because Buterin’s popularity makes him a target for hacking efforts. But it would be best if you were careful about clicking on links, especially odd ones on social media.