NFT Projects Lost $22M To The Same Hackers On Discord: Analysis

NFT projects lost $22 million to basically the same hackers on Discord and one analysis concluded that these hackers are targeting BAYC and other NFT projects which are a part of a wider network so let’s read more today in our latest cryptocurrency news.

The two web3 security companies issued reports focused on the recent scourge of the hacks that target NFT projects that were connected to a group of hackers using compromised discord servers. According to the analysis by TRM Labs, the cyber attacks against NFT collections increased in 2022 and cost the NFT community over $22 million in May alone. The NFT projects lost a lot of funds and they are blockchain-based tokens that show ownership over digital assets.

The NFT community has suffered more than 150 compromises targeting NFT projects' Discord servers since May 2022. A sampling… (1/2) pic.twitter.com/cEdPaV5mQI

— TRM Labs (@trmlabs) July 25, 2022

In the report, TRM Labs which specializes in digital asset compliance said that these cyberattacks linked to NFT mining scams were deployed on Discord accounts that increased by 55% in June 2022 compared to the past month. The TRM Labs investigator Monika LAird said:

“Since 2022, we’ve seen these compromises happening at scale, specifically on Discord.”

Our security team has been tracking a persistent threat group that targets the NFT community. We believe that they may soon be launching a coordinated attack targeting multiple communities via compromised social media accounts. Please be vigilant and stay safe.

— Yuga Labs (@yugalabs) July 18, 2022

TRM Labs said it received over 100 reports of Discord channel hacks in the past two months via its reporting platform. Laird said that the attacks happened weekly and targeted ERC-721 tokens which are token standards on the Ethereum blockchain for NFTs. On the on-chain side, the relationship between the consolidation points and wallets suggests that the same actors run the bulk of these hack attacks. Yuga Labs the company behind Bored Apes Yacht Club added:

“Our security team has been tracking a persistent threat group that targets the NFT community. We believe that they may soon be launching a coordinated attack targeting multiple communities via compromised social media accounts. Please be vigilant and stay safe.”

Our Discord servers were briefly exploited today. The team caught and addressed it quickly. About 200 ETH worth of NFTs appear to have been impacted. We are still investigating, but if you were impacted, email us at discord@yugalabs.io.

— Bored Ape Yacht Club (@BoredApeYC) June 4, 2022

TRM Labs said the on-chain data suggests most of the Discord compromises are connected to the same hacker which targeted the BAYC in June. According to the company, other targeted projects include PArallel Lacoste, Tasties, Anata and bubble world. As Laird explained, there were 150 compromises since May and targeted an admin role in the larger NFT project channel so once the hackers controlled the admin account, they sent out links to promotional giveaways and NFT mings that pushed people to jump into the malicious websites by creating a fake sense of urgency. The head of global investigations at TRM Labs, Chris Janczweski added:

“It isn’t necessarily that Discord in and of itself has a weakness, but it just makes it a very target-rich environment. If you’re looking for people that own NFTs, you go to a place where they’re all hanging out, and you have a point to be able to make [contact] with them.”