Blockchain Bandit Moves $172 Million in Ethereum After 5 Years | Airdrop Alert Pro

A wallet linked to a notorious “Blockchain Bandit” attacker has reportedly become active after being dormant for more than five years.

According to cryptocurrency investigator ZachXBT, the attackers merged 51,000 ETH worth more than $172 million from 10 different wallets into a single multi-signature wallet.

Who are the Blockchain Bandit Hackers?

Zach XBT analyze Showing that all 10 wallet addresses used in today’s transfer were last active in 2018. This means the attackers decided to access the funds for the first time in more than five years.

So, who is this blockchain bandit? For those new to cryptocurrency, it may be an unfamiliar name. However, for long-time cryptocurrency enthusiasts, it is one of the most gripping and worrying names of 2018.

notorious “Blockchain Bandit“ is the pseudonym of an attacker who systematically exploited weak private keys on the Ethereum blockchain to steal cryptocurrency. He became popular by simply guessing the private keys of several vulnerable wallets and stealing millions of funds.

The attacker scanned Wallet for the Ethereum network Protected by weak, non-random, or poorly generated private keys. These keys are often the result of programming errors or cryptographic library implementation errors.

Blockchain bandits use automated scripts to search the blockchain Vulnerable address. When a weak key is discovered, the attacker quickly moves funds from the wallet to his own address. In most cases, it takes a few days for the property owner to realize that it has been stolen.

Overall, hackers used this simple technique to steal more than 50,000 ETH from more than 10,000 wallets. The name “Blockchain Bandits” comes from wired A 2019 report revealed the pattern of this attack.

During that time, a Safety An analyst named Adrian Bednarek discovered how thieves can use pre-generated key lists to automatically scan and withdraw funds from vulnerable wallets in seconds.

“You see, on Ethereum, private keys are 256-bit numbers. Brute force is basically impossible. But some wallets use poor random number generators, creating weak private keys. Think: password123 or empty The recovery phrase. A key is actually… “1”. Bandit doesn’t just target bad private keys. It also exploits: weak password-based wallets (like “brain wallets”) and misconfigured Ethereum nodes. His approach made him almost unstoppable.” Wrote Web3 Analyst Pix.

Why are attackers active again five years later?

While these specific wallets became active today for the first time since 2018, several others used Transfer the funds back in January 2023, and buy bitcoin.

Nonetheless, today’s transfer marks the largest consolidation of all of the attacker’s stolen ETH funds. This could indicate several things.

First, transfer funds to Multi-signature wallet Could indicate an attacker is preparing to conduct a large transaction or series of transactions. This may include money laundering through mixers, Decentralized exchangeor other tools to obscure its origins.

Additionally, pooling funds could be a prelude to liquidating some or all of the ETH. It’s worth noting that liquidating such a large amount of ETH in the current market may raise concerns Ethereum’s short-term price.

On the other hand, attackers may anticipate favorable market conditions, e.g. ETH price surges, Maximize the value of their stolen assets during liquidation.

Most concerning, however, is that the merged ETH will be available for Provide funding for further development. For example, providing transaction fees for a new set of attacks or enabling operations on other blockchain networks.

Overall, the possibility of such a notorious hacker becoming active again could become a concern in the cryptocurrency space. we have seen Industry losses of US$2.3 billion in 2023a significant increase of 40% compared with 2023. Ethereum was also the network hardest hit by these attacks.