Since the dawn of the cryptocurrency revolution, the virtual world has experienced many incidents of thefts and hacks. Unfortunately, OpenSea – a platform that allows for the minting of NFTs – has been in the news for the wrong reasons. The latest rumor has been revolving around a hack of $200 million. But OpenSea CEO has denied the claims and blamed a phishing attack for the unfortunate incident.
OpenSea Upgrade Exploited by Cybercriminals
Last week, OpenSea announced a move from Ethereum blockchain to another contract. The step was supposedly taken for the betterment of the platform, but no one knew how things would unfold. The opportunist criminals thought of this as a chance to exploit the situation.
An email was sent to the users of NFT marketplace OpenSea to follow the link to list their NFTs on a newer contract. The users were asked for authorization. The moment they gave their approval, the hackers stole their NFTs through phishing.
OpenSea Research Team Found the Root Cause of the Problem
An OpenSea taskforce is trying to find the people responsible for the hack. The team found out that thirty-two OpenSea users signed a dangerous payload sent to them via hackers. As a result, the attackers got into their accounts and robbed their NFTs.
After the investigation, the chairman of OpenSea revealed the findings to the users via a tweet. He also mentioned that the hacker now has $1.7 million of Ethereum in his wallet. The CEO Devin Finzer believes that the ETHs in the hacker’s wallet is due to the sale of NFTs they stole.
OpenSea is currently working with the people who lost their NFTs via the attacks. They are trying to figure out which common websites the users clicked on before the phishing hack was initiated. By finding some common elements in the behavior of the users, OpenSea is trying to pinpoint the people responsible for the attack.
Conclusion
For the past few months, we have seen a rise in attacks on NFTs and other crypto assets. Although cryptocurrencies and NFTs are gaining in popularity with each passing day, these attacks serve as a deterrent and scare people from investing in the new Web 3.0 technologies. The owners and executives of platforms such as OpenSea are often seen advising people to remain cautious while using their accounts. However, despite their best efforts, there has been an apparent rise in such cases.