In a recent tweet, Chinese journalist Colin Wu provided an update regarding a significant crypto hack that took place in August. The hack was alarming because it targeted a platform BitBrowser, frequently used by cryptocurrency enthusiasts who participate in airdrops.
Hackers Move Funds To Crypto Mixers
According to Colin Wu’s report, the perpetrators of the BitBrowser breach transferred 236.27 Ethereum tokens to a crypto mixer named eXch. This transfer was approximately $386,000, constituting about 70.6% of the stolen funds.
The primary purpose behind transferring the funds to a crypto mixer is to conceal the origins of the funds. This approach enables the hackers to eventually liquidate them on centralized cryptocurrency exchanges.
Wu referred to a prominent blockchain security firm SlowMist, that has been closely monitoring the situation. Last Friday, the SlowMist team revealed that the hacker had transferred $110,000 from the stolen funds to new addresses across various blockchain networks. These networks comprised of Ethereum, zkSync Era, Arbitrum, and Optimism.
On August 29, the blockchain security team detected that the hacker had transferred more than $10,000 to cryptocurrency exchanges, specifically Binance, ChangeNow, and FixedFloat.
It is essential to highlight that BitBrowser had previously released an official statement confirming the security breach. In their announcement, the platform revealed that the information stored on BitBrowser’s servers had been exposed.
Abeerah Hashim, a well-known cybersecurity expert and associate editor of ExtremeVPN, commented on the matter, saying:
Today’s cyber landscape is a battleground where vigilance is key. The BitBrowser hacker’s use of a crypto mixer to move stolen ETH serves as a stark reminder that the fight against cybercriminals requires constant innovation and collaboration among security experts and the crypto community. ExtremeVPN remains committed to bolstering digital defenses and safeguarding the future of online transactions.
Certik Reports Show Over $1 Billion Has Been Lost To Hacks
This particular event is not an isolated case. A well-known blockchain security company, Certik, had previously reported that the cryptocurrency sector had suffered losses of roughly $1 billion in 2023 due to hacks and security breaches.
Certik stated that the industry witnessed losses of $45.8 million attributed to various criminal activities in August alone. The analysis reveals that exit scams accounted for approximately $26 million of the total losses. Flash loans, a relatively recent form of uncollateralized lending within the DeFi ecosystem, were responsible for roughly $6.4 million in losses.
The remaining $13.5 million was attributed to exploits, encompassing vulnerabilities in smart contracts and other blockchain technologies. CertiK also highlighted a number of other significant incidents that incurred substantial financial losses.
The Zunami Protocol attack caused losses amounting to $2.2 million. Also, the Exactly Protocol exploit led to losses of $7.3 million, and the PEPE withdrawal incident resulted in losses totaling $13.2 million.
CertiK’s data also reveals that the total losses stemming from hacks, scams, and exploits in 2023 have crossed $997 million. This figure includes approximately $261 million lost to flash loan attacks, over $137 million lost to exit scams, and more than $596 million lost to exploits.
Although the losses in August remain significant, they are considerably less than those witnessed in the previous month. In July 2023, cryptocurrency investors saw losses totaling around $303 million in digital assets due to exploits and hacker attacks.
Featured image from Pixabay and chart from TradingView.com
