3 months ago
The Blockchain Bandit, a hacker infamous for exploiting vulnerabilities successful Ethereum wallets, has reappeared, consolidating stolen assets aft years of inactivity.
On Dec. 30, blockchain researcher ZachXBT reported that the hacker moved 51,000 ETH, worthy astir $172 million, into a azygous wallet.
These funds were transferred from 10 antecedently inactive wallets, marking the hacker’s archetypal important enactment successful years.
The Blockchain Bandit
The Blockchain Bandit earned notoriety by exploiting anemic backstage keys connected the Ethereum blockchain. This method progressive targeting wallets with insecure keys, often acceptable to elemental sequences similar “1,” “2,” oregon “3.” These vulnerabilities allowed the hacker to siphon crypto from unsuspecting users.
The standard of these exploits archetypal came to airy successful 2019 erstwhile information researcher Adrian Bednarek discovered the contented during a regular investigation.
He identified hundreds of wallets utilizing dangerously anemic keys, revealing the hacker’s systematic method of scanning for specified vulnerabilities. This approach, known arsenic “Ethercombing,” enabled automated theft from compromised wallets.
Over 2 years, the hacker breached 732 backstage keys and conducted astir 49,000 transactions. Their enactment peaked betwixt 2016 and 2018, with implicit 45,000 ETH stolen successful conscionable 8 months.
Following this spree, the hacker’s wallets remained untouched—until now.
The reappearance of the Blockchain Bandit highlights the persistent information challenges wrong the crypto ecosystem.
Despite advancements successful wallet technology, Web3 researcher Pix noted that respective crypto users are inactive susceptible to akin attacks due to the fact that of anemic cardinal generators, mediocre wallet practices, and the anticipation of quality error. The researcher added:
“The Bandit’s playbook isn’t outdated — it’s a warning.”
Moreover, the Blockchain Bandit instrumentality besides illuminates a broader inclination of rising crypto thefts. This year, crypto losses reached $2.3 billion, a 21% summation from the erstwhile year. Notably, North Korea-linked cybercriminals accounted for $1.34 cardinal of these losses.
The station 2016 hacker Blockchain Bandit resurfaces shifting $172 cardinal successful Ethereum to caller wallets appeared archetypal connected CryptoSlate.
English (US) 