In a Monday report, the South Korean cross-chain bridge Orbit was hit by a major cyber attack that resulted in the loss of a substantial amount. The Orbit team complained that the hackers gained unauthorized access to the cross-chain and drained approximately $80 million.
After probing the matter, the technical team noted that someone gained unauthorized access to the Orbit Bridge and took charge of multiple wallets. Later, the attacker drained assets worth $84.5 million from various wallets.
Hackers Expoits Orbit Multi Bridge
According to the report, the Orbit team noted that the hacker stole 26,741.6 ETH from 5 addresses. Also, the probing team observed that around $20 million DAI was stolen from three wallets.
Following the hacking incident, the Orbit team immediate actions to recover the stolen funds. In a January 1 X post, the Orbit team confirmed after intense efforts to recover the stolen assets, they managed to trace the movement of the funds.
Luckily, they noted that the hackers had not moved the funds to their external wallets. This forced the Orbit team to engage the local law enforcers to monitor the stolen funds. Additionally, the Orbit team vowed to continue monitoring the funds while keeping close contact with the law enforcers.
In the report, the Orbit team anticipates that the law enforcers will negotiate with the attackers after the ongoing investigations.
In a subsequent report, the Orbit team pledged to utilize all the available methods to support the recovery of the stolen funds. The desire to recover the funds has forced the Orbit team to collaborate with South Korea’s National Police Agency and Internet & Security Agency (KISA) to develop a well-designed platform for investigations and cause analysis.
Orbit Chain Partners with Law Enforcers to Recover Stolen Funds
Besides the partnership with KISA, the Orbit team has partnered with other crypto exchanges to recover the stolen fund. In the ongoing investigations, the Orbit team advised the local and offshore crypto exchanges to freeze the stolen funds.
Also, the blockchain security firms were requested to collaborate with Orbit and law enforcers to track the funds. Elsewhere, the prominent security firm ChainLight confessed that it was conducting a comprehensive analysis of the exploits to assess the severity of the attack.
News concerning the Orbit exploit created fear amongst the crypto community. On X, the crypto enthusiasts engaged in heated exchanges concerning the security of the crypto industry.
Citing a recent report from CertiK, that shows approximately $2 billion was lost in the crypto sector in 2023.The X community noted that the attackers launched 751 security breaches last year.
The rise of crypto-related crimes has attracted the attention of global regulators. After lengthy consultations between the industry leaders and the regulators, they agreed to collaborate to bring down criminals looming in the crypto sector.
Industry Leaders Step Up to Address Crypto Hacks
The collaboration between the regulators and the key players in the crypto sector has impacted the imposition of advanced security protocols to shield the customer from exploitative activities.
The attempt to restore the integrity of the crypto sector has captivated the interest of renowned policymakers such as Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren. For the past few months, Senator Warren has pushed for adopting new regulations safeguarding the crypto sector.
The effort to shield the financial sector from exploitation impacted the formulation of Warren’s bill for digital assets. This bill outlined the regulatory measures for safeguarding the crypto industry.
Besides the new bill, Senator Warren has condemned the activities of notorious hacking groups such as the Lazarus Group from North Korea. Citing a recent report, Senator Warren noted that the Lazarus group stole approximately $3.4 billion from the crypto industry.
She lamented that the Lazarus group has been targeting fast-paced crypto firms to steal substantial amounts of money for funding their nuclear weapon program. Last year, the US regulators noted that the Lazarus Group was involved in most of the crypto hacks.
