Skip to main content

Another Ether heist resulted in a theft of about $33 million in digital currency

Just days after a hacker managed to steal more than $7 million in digital currency using a simple link switch on a website, a second hacker group grabbed even more in a separate incident involving a vulnerability in a digital wallet client. The incident took place between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. (ET) on Wednesday and affected v1.5 and later versions of Parity Wallet. The problem has since been fixed, but not before hackers stole more than $33 million in Ether.

Digital currency such as Bitcoin and Ether are typically transferred across the internet from digital wallet to wallet using special links. A multi-signature wallet requires the use of multiple keys to authorize a digital currency transaction that requires the authorization of multiple individuals. Ethereum creator Gavin Wood developed Parity Wallet, which can support numerous contracts that require multi-signature transactions in one application.

Recommended Videos

Parity said on Wednesday that affected users consist of any multi-signature wallet created within Parity Wallet prior to 5:14 p.m. (ET) on Monday. All users are encouraged to move assets contained in those wallets to a secure address. So far, the company has not stated who was affected by the vulnerability but several entities have come forth to publicly disclose their loss stemming from the hack, one of which is peer-to-peer sharing economy Swarm City.

“Bernd Lapp, Business Hive leader noticed that the entire contents of the Swarm City ETH multi-sig wallet had been drained. Bernd checked the receiving address and noticed a few very large transactions had hit the same wallet. We alerted the Ethereum Foundation and multiple developer groups immediately,” states Swarm City.

After an investigation, Swarm City determined that hackers exploited a flaw residing within the code handling multi-signature transactions in Parity Wallet. Overall, the hackers stole more than 153,000 Ether coins from multiple Ethereum-based projects such as Aeternity and Edgeless Casino. Swarm City said it also lost 44,055 Ether coins, which equals out to just over $10 million in cash at the current exchange rate.

But the total Ether depletion could have been a lot worse. Swift City said that a whitelist hacker group used the same exploit to drain many multi-signature wallets to keep the digital currency out of the hackers’ hands. This group managed to save more than 377,000 Ether coins ($86 million) as shown in this Etherscan of their digital wallet.

“White Hat Group(s) were made aware of a vulnerability in a specific version of a commonly used multi-sig contract,” a public note states. “This vulnerability was trivial to execute, so they took the necessary action to drain every vulnerable multi-sig they could find as quickly as possible. Thank you to the greater Ethereum Community that helped finding these vulnerable contracts.”

The wallet of the hackers behind the Ether heist can be found here. The account still has around $19 million worth of Ether, which can only be spent on the Ethereum platform. Those who lost Ether in Wednesday’s heist might want to check with the white hat address to see if the “good guys” saved their coins.

Kevin Parrish
Kevin started taking PCs apart in the 90s when Quake was on the way and his PC lacked the required components. Since then…
I found the best Prime Day deal on a tablet hidden beyond Amazon
Microsoft Surface Pro 12-inch, stylus, and keyboard.

A good tablet can take your productivity to the next level, but a boring one will find a niche use and eat dust on a table or couch for most of its time. I love iPads and have been pushing them – as far as I can — to act as my primary computing machine for nearly half a decade now. It has never managed to replace a proper laptop, like a MacBook Air or a Windows machine. 

Why not buy a Windows laptop, you might ask? Well, Windows-powered tablets, especially those Surface devices sold by Microsoft, are pretty expensive. I love the new 12-inch Surface Pro, but at $799, it felt like a steep purchase despite its impressive specifications. 

Read more
Prime Day is over, but this powerful Dell laptop is still at its lowest price
The Dell Vostro 3530 laptop on a white background.

Prime Day is already over, but that doesn't mean that there are no more laptop deals for you to shop on Amazon. Here's one that caught our eye -- the Dell Vostro 3530 with 32GB of RAM for its lowest-ever price of $649, following a 28% discount on its original price of $899. This limited-time offer of $250 off may not last much longer though, so if you want to take advantage of this bargain, we highly recommend that you finalize your purchase for this device as soon as you can.

Buy Now

Read more
This Lenovo all-in-one computer is 30% off even though Prime Day has ended
The Lenovo V100 All-in-One Desktop Computer on a white background.

Even though Prime Day is already finished, there are still some excellent desktop computer deals on Amazon. If you don't have much space, or you just want to avoid clutter, you should take a look at the Lenovo V100 All-in-One PC. From its original price of $800, it's all the way down to just $560 following a 30% discount. The offer for this machine will only be available for a limited time though, so you need to act fast and proceed with the transaction immediately to secure the savings of $240.

Buy Now

Read more