The attacks on cryptocurrency platforms continue as systems neglect to heighten their security
Delta Prime, a decentralized finance (DeFi) platform, has become the latest victim of a cyberattack, with the hackers making off with nearly $6 million in digital assets. The incident highlights the ongoing vulnerabilities in the cryptocurrency sector.
The attack was first reported earlier today when onchain security firm Cyvers estimated an initial loss of about $4.5 million. Cyvers noted that a suspicious address had converted USDC to ETH and was draining funds from the platform’s pools. Shortly after, Chaofan Shou, co-founder of Fuzzland, updated the figure to nearly $6 million due to additional malicious transactions.
🚨ALERT🚨Our system has detected multiple suspicious transactions involving @DeltaPrimeDefi on $ARB chain! (Still ongoing)
It seems that admin has lost the private key. Suspicious address still draining the pools! Affected pools so far are the #DPUSDC, #DPARB, #DPBTCb !… pic.twitter.com/8sXanAaCwe
— 🚨 Cyvers Alerts 🚨 (@CyversAlerts) September 16, 2024
The breach at Delta Prime is part of a troubling trend of significant cyberattacks in the cryptocurrency world. Just two months earlier, WazirX, a major Indian cryptocurrency exchange, was hit by a hacker who stole over $230 million, marking one of the largest hacks of 2024.
According to Meir Dolev, CTO of Cyvers, the attack on Delta Prime likely involved a private key exploit. Dolev explained that hackers gained control of an admin wallet associated with Delta Prime’s proxy contracts. By upgrading these contracts to point to a malicious contract, the attackers were able to drain the platform’s pools on the Arbitrum blockchain. The total estimated loss stands at approximately $5.9 million.
The incident underscores growing concerns about the security of DeFi platforms. Recent warnings from the FBI suggest that North Korean hackers, including the notorious Lazarus Group, may shift their focus to larger targets such as Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). These ETFs hold substantial amounts of Bitcoin, making them a tempting target for cybercriminals.
