Home News 2016 hacker Blockchain Bandit resurfaces shifting $172 million in Ethereum to new wallets

2016 hacker Blockchain Bandit resurfaces shifting $172 million in Ethereum to new wallets

by Federico Baumbach

2016 hacker Blockchain Bandit resurfaces shifting $172 million in Ethereum to new wallets

2016 hacker Blockchain Bandit resurfaces inspiring $172 million in Ethereum to unique wallets

2016 hacker Blockchain Bandit resurfaces inspiring $172 million in Ethereum to unique wallets 2016 hacker Blockchain Bandit resurfaces inspiring $172 million in Ethereum to unique wallets

2016 hacker Blockchain Bandit resurfaces inspiring $172 million in Ethereum to unique wallets

Blockchain Bandit's resurgence exposes enduring threats from earlier-favorite key generation ways.

2016 hacker Blockchain Bandit resurfaces inspiring $172 million in Ethereum to unique wallets

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The Blockchain Bandit, a hacker rotten for exploiting vulnerabilities in Ethereum wallets, has reappeared, consolidating stolen sources after years of mumble of no process.

On Dec. 30, blockchain investigator ZachXBT reported that the hacker moved 51,000 ETH, worth approximately $172 million, into a single wallet.

These funds were transferred from ten beforehand slothful wallets, marking the hacker’s first fundamental process in years.

The Blockchain Bandit

The Blockchain Bandit earned notoriety by exploiting frail non-public keys on the Ethereum blockchain. This kind fervent targeting wallets with insecure keys, customarily situation to simple sequences love “1,” “2,” or “3.” These vulnerabilities allowed the hacker to siphon crypto from unsuspecting users.

The scale of these exploits first got right here to gentle in 2019 when security researcher Adrian Bednarek found the topic right through a routine investigation.

He identified heaps of of wallets the employ of dangerously frail keys, revealing the hacker’s systematic manner of scanning for such vulnerabilities. This methodology, identified as “Ethercombing,” enabled automatic theft from compromised wallets.

Over two years, the hacker breached 732 non-public keys and performed virtually 49,000 transactions. Their process peaked between 2016 and 2018, with over forty five,000 ETH stolen in barely eight months.

Following this spree, the hacker’s wallets remained untouched—unless now.

The reappearance of the Blockchain Bandit highlights the continual security challenges all over the crypto ecosystem.

Despite developments in wallet expertise, Web3 researcher Pix eminent that loads of crypto users are aloof at probability of identical assaults because of the frail key generators, unhappy wallet practices, and the opportunity of human error. The researcher added:

“The Bandit’s playbook isn’t earlier-favorite — it’s a warning.”

Moreover, the Blockchain Bandit return moreover illuminates a broader pattern of rising crypto thefts. This year, crypto losses reached $2.3 billion, a 21% expand from the earlier year. Notably, North Korea-linked cybercriminals accounted for $1.34 billion of these losses.

Source credit : cryptoslate.com

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