- Justin Sun’s Crypto Firm HTX was attacked twice after rebranding from Huobi.
- His other Crypto firms like Poloniex and Heco Bridge were also hacked.
Justin Sun’s Cryptocurrency firms, namely HTX and Poloniex, were digitally attacked. The exchange HTX has been attacked twice since its rebranding from Huobi in September 2023. The digital entrepreneur’s platform was exploited for nearly $115 Million. Hackers have stolen nearly $30 Million worth of cryptocurrencies according to the company.
The Tron founders’ crypto business has come under repeated attacks from hackers. The first attack happened just after a few days of rebranding on September 24, 2023. The unknown attackers had stolen $8 Million in crypto from HTX. In the second attack, HTX lost $30 Million due to a hot wallet breach.
A spokesperson from HTX also confirmed that the blockchain bridge Heco Chain was also attacked. Poloniex suffered a hack that led to $100 Million of cryptocurrency being exploited. The security breach on the platform occurred on November 10, 2023.
HECO Bridge, the network setup by HTX to enable the cheaper transfers of funds between different blockchains, lost more than $85 Million dominated in Ether and various other tokens in a separate hack. It was hacked on November 22, 2023, sending the amount to suspicious addresses.
Justin confirms “HTX and Heco Cross-Chain Bridge undergo hacker attack. HTX will fully compensate for HTX’s hot wallet losses. Deposits and withdrawals are temporarily suspended. All funds in HTX are secure and the community can rest assured.”
He also said that the company is investigating possible reasons for the attack. Once they become aware of the reasons, the company will resume functioning.
The cryptoQuant data showed that around 11,100 Ether tokens have moved from the HTX exchange. This is nearly $23 Million worth of cryptocurrency and is mainly the result of hackers stealing the digital coins.
Sun reported on X that Poloniex also disabled the wallet. The blockchain security Certik reported that the incident was a private key compromise. In total, the platform lost a combined sum of around $208 Million in all four hacks.
The Tron founder promised to compensate the losses for the HTX and Poloniex hacks. However, the crypto enthusiasts have alerted the community to stay away from the exchanges. One of the crypto observers said that Justin was in big trouble, stating that Poloneix was closed for the last five days and HTX offers 100% interest on cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin
The spokesperson from the security firm Hacken said that all the attacks had the same target as Justin Sun’s project and he hypothetically assumed that the hacks were caused by an insider who was leaking information.
Are Crypto Firms the Top Priority for Hacking?
Digital crimes are increasing in numbers and targets. They are becoming more strategic and planned. Crypto firms are the top priority for attacks as the attackers are fully aware of the fact that these firms can pay big money in exchange for data. Big data can be sold for money.
Attackers strategically planned which firms and companies should be targeted to make the maximum profit. They are doing more research and improving their chances of success. Although the firms, companies, and exchanges have implemented security processes, the procedure is not sophisticated enough to outsmart hackers. They use safety measures but are not immune to attacks.
As hackers and technology are growing in intelligence, companies should focus more on digital hacking defense strategies and infrastructure to protect against attacks and scams.
One of the reasons for digital attacks on crypto firms is that the crypto transfers cannot be reversed. It takes place on a decentralized network. The funds transferred cannot be reversed or canceled unless it is reversed by the receiver.
Types of Digital Attacks
Some common hacking includes social engineering attacks against unsuspected investors, hacking into token bridges to steal funds, and phishing attacks to gain access to digital wallets.
Routing Data: As the blockchain depends on real-time data the hackers can interpret the data as it is transferring to an internet service provider. In a routing attack, the participant cannot see the attack as it cannot be judged, and it looks normal. However, the fraudsters have extracted the data or the currencies.
Sybil Attack: In this type of attack the hacker uses many false network identities to flood the network and crash the system.
Security Solutions Opted by Justin Sun’s Crypto Firm and Users
Some security control specifics include key management, identity and access management, data privacy, secure communication, smart contract security, and transaction endorsement.
Although Justin Sun’s firm opted for the security measures, users need to be attentive. One of the preferred ways of security is storing the currency in cold wallets.
Many cryptocurrency exchanges allow the customer to hold their U.S. dollars balance attached to the partner banks insured by FDIC. However, that protection does not extend to the client’s crypto balance.
To safeguard their customers, the exchanges go for security measures and insurance coverage but the experts recommend not keeping holdings on the exchange platform. Move the amount to the wallet once the transaction is completed.
Conclusion
More alertness is required by the crypto firms. As the technologies are advancing, hackers are also coming up with more fool-proof methods. Hence, the customers and exchanges should opt for advanced security methods to avoid digital hacks and threats.