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Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of the widely recognized cryptocurrency Ethereum, experienced a breach in his Twitter account, now known as X. The cyber intrusion was orchestrated via a sophisticated SIM swap attack, a method that involves manipulating a telecom provider to gain control over a victim’s phone number.
Buterin shared the details of this incident on Farcast, a decentralized social media platform, as reported by Decrypt. The hackers exploited the vulnerability of the phone-based password reset system on Twitter, bypassing the two-factor authentication process.
This allowed them to seize control of Buterin’s account, which boasts a significant following of 4.9 million. The aftermath of this security breach saw an estimated $650,000 worth of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) stolen from unsuspecting victims. The cybercriminals, having gained control over Buterin’s account, posted a deceptive link to a limited edition NFT.
This NFT was falsely advertised as a commemoration of the release of proto-danksharding for Ethereum. Proto-danksharding is an anticipated update to Ethereum’s digital infrastructure, which, according to developer Mario Havel, is in the final stages of development. This update, utilizing “data blobs,” is expected to significantly enhance the Ethereum network’s capacity, allowing it to handle up to 100,000 daily transactions.
The hackers, leveraging Buterin’s influence, posted a message on his account, “To celebrate the Proto-Darksharding coming to Ethereum, @Consensys is marking the moment with a commemorative NFT. ‘Proto honors the work of the devs who made this possible. The collection is free for the next 24 hours.”
This was followed by a link to a webpage where users were enticed to claim the NFT. The fraudulent tweet was promptly removed within 20 minutes of its posting. This incident underscores the pressing need for robust cybersecurity measures, especially in the realm of cryptocurrency and digital assets. It also highlights the potential risks associated with phone-based authentication systems.
