Hackers switching to centralized exchanges to fund crypto attacks
There is growing concern about the number of crypto hackers using centralized exchanges to fund their attacks. In order to pay the transaction fees necessary to carry out attacks, hackers must first fund their wallets. However, given the transparency of a public ledger, they have to carefully consider how to do this without linking themselves to the crime. Tornado Cash used to be the industry standard for covering one’s tracks, used by hackers and privacy advocates alike. Now, it appears that in many cases, Hack ers simply opt to skirt their way around exchange s’ know-your-customer (KYC) procedures when funding their accounts. Blockchain monitoring firm Forta Network’s analysis of funding sources for recent attacks shows that the hacker’s favourite Tornado Cash now represents just under half the hacks studied , with funds coming from centralized exchanges (CEXs) in a third of cases. Other funding methods included novel privacy tool Railgun and ‘middleware operat...