The attack on crypto platform Nomad was easy to copy.
(Photo: Moment/Getty Images)
Millions of people use the key combination “Ctrl + C” and “Ctrl + V” on their computers several times a day. It allows copying and pasting of digits – it is a basic function. In the crypto world, that’s enough to rake in millions.
Unknown persons stole almost 200 million dollars in a cyber attack on the crypto service provider Nomad. The first exploited a bug and siphoned off $2.3 million. Hundreds more copied his approach, leaving $600 of the $190 million stored on the platform.
This was possible because a code snippet from the first hack ended up in chat groups. Anyone who had the snippet could replace the original digital destination address with their own and copy the hack. It didn’t take any deeper programming skills to run the hack. Simple “copy and paste” was enough.
The background of the individual hackers is completely irrelevant. Some of the attackers withdrew money to keep it safe and have since returned it to an account set up by Nomad. Crucially, looting the money was ridiculously easy.
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It’s not about some half-baked start-up and a few thousand dollars. It’s about millions and about Nomad – a digital intermediary between blockchains that is supposed to enable users to exchange different cryptocurrencies inexpensively and that was recently valued at $225 million in a financing round.
Two billion dollars stolen this year alone
If the crypto world wants to be taken seriously, such hacks must not happen. Especially not with such regularity. Chainalysis has counted 13 successful attacks on “crypto bridges” like Nomad this year alone. The data platform estimates that more than two billion dollars were stolen.
And that’s just a snippet of the problems in the crypto world. The technical shortcomings are systematic. When crypto project Terra collapsed and investors lost an estimated $50 billion, it didn’t even need a hack. Instead, financially strong investors could simply overwhelm the algorithm with their buy and sell orders – by the way, a previously known problem with the technology used.
This is grotesque for a system that its proponents are touting as particularly secure because of blockchain technology and as the future of payments intended to replace banks and other intermediaries. So the credibility of the crypto world is in question.
More: “Opportunists Join Looting” – Crypto Hackers Heist $190M