Network Attacks: A Deep-dive Network attacks are a class of exploits that focus on the isolation and manipulation of individual nodes or groups of nodes. While blockchain networks are theoretically robust against such attempts, both hackers and academics have found loopholes that can be used not only to defraud and damage individuals, but also scale...

Smart Contract Risk and How to Mitigate It: A Deep-dive The strengths of smart contracts are also the source of its weaknesses, and will always present opportunities for hackers to exploit. So far, the pace of innovation in counter-measures is struggling to keep pace with innovation in the methods of attack. It’s reasonable to assume...

The full story behind the Wormhole bridge hack that led to the fraudulent minting of 120,000 wETH and threatened to crash Solana. Early February of 2022 was a low-point for the cryptocurrency asset class; one of many more to come throughout the year. The price of BTC was on a relentless downtrend from a high...

Security Threats to Blockchain Networks – The utopian view of the blockchain as an unhackable alternative to the status quo is a pipedream. Many traditional cyberattacks are effective in a blockchain-based setting, and even cryptographically-secured processes are prone to errors and exploits. Understanding the potential attack vectors is a prerequisite to building a stable blockchain-based...

Table of ContentsCyber-Attack Strategies in the Blockchain Era – A Framework for Categorizing the Emerging Threats to the Crypto EconomyMarket attacksPump-and-dumpExit scamRug-pullInvestment scamFront runningEconomic attacksPhishingSpear phishingExtortionRansomwareChurningCelebrity-based scamsConsensus attacksFinney attackRace attackVector7651% majority attackNothing-at-stakeWeak subjectivityLiveness denialCensorshipPrecomputation attackSelfish miningBribery attacksLong-range PoS attacksSimplePosterior CorruptionStake BleedingNetwork-level attacksRouting attacksSybil attacksDDoS (Distributed Denial of Service)Eclipse attacksTransaction MalleabilityTimejackingWallet attacksSeizure of Private Keys (Hot...

Many believe total anonymity is possible using private cryptocurrencies. It might not always be the case. Are popular cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum private? Absolutely not. There are privacy enhancing tools and techniques that can be used to obscure crypto transactions, but in general most cryptocurrencies leave a very convenient trail to trace for investigators...

The DeFi revolution presents new risks and challenges for innovators, regulators, cybersecurity experts and early adopters of the powerful technology. These are the top 5. “Where money goes, crime is never far behind.“ In our new digital world this age-old saying still rings true, especially in regard to the emergent cryptocurrency and NFT landscapes. According...

In November 2021, a popular Twitter user and cryptocurrency enthusiast @Oxflim tweeted about a particularly nasty NFT scam that happened to him. He lost his NFT collection, worth over 300 ETH, in the blink of an eye. “My primary wallets were compromised last night — you never want to wake up to something like this....

KuCoin Hack – When attacked, some crypto projects and exchanges buckle and fold under pressure; KuCoin, set the standard in 2020 for how to react to crypto hacks, even on the largest scale. KuCoin is a Singapore-based crypto exchange that consistently ranks among the top 5 exchanges in terms of daily volume serving the crypto...

The full story behind the first major crypto hack – MtGox Hack – and how much really was lost. MtGox was one of the very first platforms on which people could buy, sell, and trade bitcoin. Launched in July 2010, by 2014 the Tokyo-based company was handling over 70% of all BTC transactions globally. It...