Blockchain Auditors Say $4m Crypto Theft Enabled By Logging Tech

Blockchain auditors have suggested the reason behind a massive $4 million hack on several crypto-currency wallet providers is a misconfiguration in a widely used event-logging technology. 

Crypto-currency tokens Solana (SOL) and USD Coin (USDC) were among those stolen from Slope wallets by an unknown attacker, after the wallets were found to be leaking seedphrases in plaintext. Seedphrases are strings of randomly generated words used to recover crypto-currency wallets. They are considered secure, and only the owners are supposed to know what these strings are.

Blockchain auditors Zellic and OtterSec have both published the findings from their respective investigations, which are still ongoing, have suggested the reason behind a massive $4 million hack on several crypto-currency wallet providers is due to a misconfiguration in a widely-used event-logging technology.

Professional cyber criminals know that blockchain’s algorithms are secure and have busied themselves looking for other ways to manipulate and penetrate them.

Slope, Solana & Phantom Wallets

In a recent incident, the blockchain platform Solana reported that 7767 wallets were impacted during a security incident in which $4 million was stolen. In addition to Solana customers, Slope and Phantom users were also affected. While the cause of the exploit is unknown, Solana has said that hardware wallets were not affected in the incident and users are strongly encouraged to use this type of wallet. The firm says that engineers from several different operating environments are investigating the incident.

The attack against Solana is the latest in a series of attacks targeting the crypto currency industry and users are advised to take particular care in securing their profiles and wallets, such as revoking third-party permissions and setting up extra security measures.

Blockchain - An Immutable Ledger

Known as an "immutable ledger," blockchain is supposed to be impervious to bad actors and this is one of the reasons blockchain has become so popular is that its design prevents anyone from deleting or changing a record once it has been created. 

This renders blockchain especially useful for crypto currency applications, where it’s important that records of spent money can’t be changed or deleted, as well as e-voting, financial records, manufacturing records, product provenance, and many other applications. However, the ownership blockchains for these coins and tokens are also vulnerable to type of hacking and fraud.
 
Blockchain’s auditors Zellic and OtterSec have concluded the issue stemmed from a misconfiguration in Sentry, an event-logging platform used by many websites and mobile apps in the industry, including the Slope wallet for iOS and Android. Other wallets also affected include Phantom, Solflare, and TrustWallet. 

  • Zellic said “any interaction in the app would trigger an event log. Unfortunately, Slope didn't configure Sentry to scrub sensitive info. Consequently, the seedphrases were leaked to Sentry”.
  • According to  OtterSec, anyone with access to Sentry could access users’ private keys, allowing them to recover wallets that don’t belong to them and transfer tokens to their own personal wallet. 

Zellic’s research suggested that Slope had only been using Sentry for a week before the breach was confirmed. It also found it’s possible to scrub data that doesn’t need to be logged in Sentry via the platform’s software developer kit or via server-side scrubbing.

Almost 1,400 of the addresses in the exploit were present in Sentry logs, although this does not account for all the hacked addresses. The research suggests that there are thousands of additional wallets that contain crypto currency tokens and could currently be vulnerable to additional attacks from the still-unknown hacker.

Owners of a Slope wallet are strongly advised to transfer all tokens into a different method of storage as soon as possible, such as a hardware ledger or centralised exchange. 

ITPro:    Techcentral:     Techopedia:    AnalyticsInsight:     Reddit:     Monash University:     

Oodaloop:    @Zellico.ai:     @osec_io

You Might Also Read: 

Chainalysis Crypto Theft Hotline:   
  

« Killnet Turn Their Attention To Lockheed Martin
Protecting Medical Devices From Cyber Attacks »

CyberSecurity Jobsite
Perimeter 81

Directory of Suppliers

ZenGRC

ZenGRC

ZenGRC - the first, easy-to-use, enterprise-grade information security solution for compliance and risk management - offers businesses efficient control tracking, testing, and enforcement.

CSI Consulting Services

CSI Consulting Services

Get Advice From The Experts: * Training * Penetration Testing * Data Governance * GDPR Compliance. Connecting you to the best in the business.

BackupVault

BackupVault

BackupVault is a leading provider of automatic cloud backup and critical data protection against ransomware, insider attacks and hackers for businesses and organisations worldwide.

Syxsense

Syxsense

Syxsense brings together endpoint management and security for greater efficiency and collaboration between IT management and security teams.

Alvacomm

Alvacomm

Alvacomm offers holistic VIP cybersecurity services, providing comprehensive protection against cyber threats. Our solutions include risk assessment, threat detection, incident response.

Carson & SAINT

Carson & SAINT

Carson & SAINT is an award-winning consulting firm with deep experience in cybersecurity technology, software, and management consulting.

Secure Decisions

Secure Decisions

Secure Decisions focus on research and product development related to national security including information assurance, computer network defense, cyber security education, and application security.

Hornetsecurity

Hornetsecurity

Meet Hornetsecurity – Leading Cloud Email Security Provider. We protect global organizations so you can focus on what you do best.

LEADS

LEADS

LEADS is considered as a leading ICT Solution Provider and an IT partner of choice in Bangladesh.

Bridewell

Bridewell

Bridewell provide cost effective Security & Risk Assurance Services across Information Security, Cyber Security, Technology Risk, Security Testing and Data Privacy.

LuJam Cyber

LuJam Cyber

LuJam Cyber is a cybersecurity company that provides protection to SME Networks.

CyPhyCon

CyPhyCon

CyPhyCon is an annual event exploring threats and solutions to cyber attacks on cyber-physical systems such as industrial control systems, Internet of Things and Industrial Internet of Things.

GlobalPass

GlobalPass

Covering 200+ countries with 78 000 databases, GlobalPass provides sophisticated facial biometrics verification and deep screening, delivering peace of mind to every client.

The ATOM Group

The ATOM Group

ATOM builds and secures technology for regulated industries. We design and build for a future we can all trust.

MailChannels

MailChannels

MailChannels protects companies against malicious email threats. Used by 750+ hosting providers around the world.

IgmGuru

IgmGuru

Igmguru offers certification online training courses for IT professionals and students. Get certified with high-in-demand job-oriented professional courses.

8com

8com

8com is an established Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP) with over 75 employees and customers in over 40 countries.

Velum Labs

Velum Labs

Velum Labs is a cyber intelligence company that provides simple and non-intrusive, cloud and cyber intelligence solutions; built from a market-leading understanding of cyber-attack methodology.

Tidal Cyber

Tidal Cyber

We formed Tidal for one simple reason—we believe that defenders need and deserve tools and services that make achieving the benefits of threat-informed defense practical and sustainable.

ClearFocus Technologies

ClearFocus Technologies

ClearFocus Technologies provides advanced cybersecurity services that secure our nation’s most sensitive assets.

TisOva

TisOva

TisOva is an innovative cybersecurity startup dedicated to addressing the growing issue of online scams targeting students.