Bybit has confirmed the breach of its cold multi-signature wallet, only hours after increasing access to liquidity data in order to increase transparency.
Ben Zhou, CEO of Bybit stated Hackers infiltrated (the exchange’s) systemETHThis cold wallet was a multi-signature system that allowed the theft of nearly $1,500,000,000 in crypto. ZachXBT alerted public about suspicious withdrawals made from Bybit.
Multi-signature wallets are used by companies to reduce the risk of a single point of failure. This is because multiple parties have to approve each transaction. In the event that one of the signers is compromised, all other parties can refuse fund transfers. In this instance, however, hackers were able to trick all signers.
Zhou said that the attackers disguised a transaction in order to deceive the wallet signers. Although the team was approving an address they did not realize they had authorized a change to Bybit’s smart contract that manages its ETH cold storage.
The hackers were able to transfer all Ether, and derivatives of Ether from Bybit’s wallet to a new address. ZachXBT said that thieves began exchanging the funds stolen for Ethereum tokens at decentralized exchanges.
ZachXBT noted that hackers also split up the assets to avoid tracking. This list was published by the blockchain researcher on his Telegram account channelEncourage exchanges to put them on a blacklist.
Zhou assured the users that this breach only affected Bybit’s Ethereum Cold Wallet.
“Please rest assured that all other cold wallets are secure. All withdrawals are NORMAL,” Zhou was added.
The February 21 attack may have been one of the most successful attacks against any crypto exchange. The amount of $1.46 billion represents more than half the value of all cryptos that will be stolen in 2024.
It is an evolving story.
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Source: crypto.news
