What It Means for Ethereum’s Reputation | Airdrop Alert Pro

The recent $1.5 billion Bybit Hack has turned North Korea’s Lazarus Group into one of the 15 Ethereum holders in the world. The violations send out a shock wave through the cryptocurrency space, reminding those who previously thought Ethereum was one of the safest and most dispersed networks.

In a conversation with Beincrypto, representatives of Cartesi and Komodo platforms discussed the implications of this violation, the steps to curb similar situations in the future, and how to restore public trust in Ethereum.

Another violation

this Bybit Hack Shocked the cryptocurrency community not only because of the amount of funds being stolen, but also because of the nature of the violation.

Other crypto exchanges violated 2014 Mountain Gox episode or 2018 Coincheck Hackdirect compromise involving private keys or exchange wallets, the situation of Bybit is different.

Instead of stealing the private key, the hacker manipulates the transaction signature process, which indicates that this is an infrastructure-level attack. The transaction signature process is targeted, not the asset storage itself.

The forensic analysis of Bybit Hack traces the breach to Safe Wallet, a multi-signature wallet infrastructure provided by a third party. Secure Wallet uses smart contracts and cloud-stored JavaScript files on AWS S3 to process and secure transactions.

Hackers can secretly modify transactions by injecting malicious JavaScript into AWS S3 storage in a secure wallet. Therefore, although BYBIT’s system did not directly hack, the hackers changed the transfer destination approved by Bybit.

This detail exposed a serious Safety defect. Even if the exchange locks its system, third-party integration becomes a weakness.

Top holders of Lazarus Group Ethereum

Following the huge hack, North Korea is one of the largest Ethereum holders.

According to the chain dataformerly No. 15 Gemini has 369,498 ETH in the Ethereum wallet. Bybit Hackers stole 401,000 ETHThey now surpass Gemini ownership.

Notorious group likes Lazarus, responsible for several highly anticipated hackersIn the cryptocurrency space, having such an important Ether now raises several trust issues. Although initial speculation points to weaknesses in the decentralized nature of Ethereum, Holymony co-founder Nanak Nihal Khalsa rejected the claim.

In view of Ethereum governance The consensus mechanism relies on validators rather than markers, and holding such a large amount of ETH in the Lazarus community does not undermine the overall decentralization of the network.

“Lazarus still has less than 1% ETH in circulation, so I don’t think it’s highly correlated except for simple optics. Although it’s a lot of ETH, they still have less than 1% of people. I’m not worried at all,” Kalsa told Beincliputo.

Kadan Stadelmann, Chief Technology Officer of Komodo Platform, agreed, emphasizing that Ethereum’s infrastructure design is the source of its weaknesses.

“This proves the vulnerability in Ethereum construction: Illegal actors can target communication or defi Agreement, thus affecting market dynamics vote Recommendations for improvement. Although Ethereum’s technological decentralization has not been damaged yet, the Lazarus Group has eroded trust in Ethereum,” Stadelmann told Beincrypto.

But while token holders can’t influence Ethereum’s consensus mechanism, they can manipulate the market.

Potential impact and market manipulation

Although bybit hackers have Money laundering of the stolen Eth has been completedStadelmann outlines a series of possible scenarios that the Lazarus Group could have done through the vast amount of wealth they had initially accumulated. One option is possession.

“Ethereum’s Proof of interest Security relies on the resilience of honest validators and wallets, exchanges and DAPPs. Although the Lazarus Group’s shipping does not have a consensus mechanism that threatens blockchain, as they are well-known that their holdings are not firmly fixed, it will certainly allow people to achieve this. They are unlikely to do this because the funds they stole have been tracked,” he explained.

Along the same unlikely line, bybit hackers may cause Huge market downturn By selling its shares completely.

“Their holdings do give them a chance to manipulate the market, for example they abandoned the shares. This will be difficult to do because their ETH is marked. If they try to exchange ETH through sales, then their assets may be frozen,” Stadelmann added.

Stadelmann’s biggest concern is that Hacks may be Ethereum’s Layer 2 Protocol.

“Lazarus and his partners can try to attack the Layer 2 protocol, e.g. arbitrator and optimistic. A censorship attack on layer 2 could undermine the DAPP and cause the ecosystem to move towards a concentrated transaction sequence. That would emphasize Ethereum’s weaknesses,” he said.

Although Ethereum’s network is not compromised, the attacks on secure wallets highlight vulnerabilities to the larger ecosystem security.

“The violation undoubtedly exacerbates tensions in the ecosystem and creates an uneven distribution of tokens. The problem remains: Will Lazarus or other hacker groups associated with state actors try to exploit the Ethereum ecosystem, especially at Latex 2?” Stadelmann concluded.

It also raises questions about the need for better safety standards.

Verify trust

Khalsa argues that bybit hack, while not a threat to Ethereum’s core security, emphasizes the need Improved safety standards Among users.

“Saying hackers is an issue with Ethereum, like saying death from a car accident is a car problem when a driver does not have a seat belt. Can cars take more safety measures? Yes, it should. But since seat belts are not related to cars, hackers are not related to Ethereum. It’s a protocol that works exactly the way it is expected. The problem is the lack of expertise in convenience and safe custody of digital assets,” he said.

Specifically, the incident exposed internal vulnerabilities Multi-signature walletproof that reliance on third-party integration can also pose significant risks, even with strong internal security. Ultimately, even the most complex wallet security measures will be ineffective if the signing process can be compromised.

Khalsa stressed that there are proven self-suppression security measures, and multi-signature wallets are not included. He added that government agencies should have advocated excellent safety standards and practices long ago.

“We all want the impact on stopping North Korea from stealing more money. While this is not the place where the government changes its self-thinking way, it is definitely where the government encourages better industry “best practices”. This attack is due to the myth that multi-layered people with hardware wallets are safe. Sadly, this attack is to be acknowledged, but better standards set by government agencies can encourage safer practices without a $1.5 billion compromise to awaken the industry,” he asserted. : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

The event also exposed the need to verify transactions Instead of trusting third-party applications.

Solutions to solve front-end vulnerabilities

By injecting malicious JavaScript into a fragile secure wallet cloud server, the Lazarus group launched complex attacks that enabled them to mimic interfaces and trick users.

According to Erick De Moura, co-founder of Cartesi, this exploit highlights a key vulnerability. The problem lies in relying on centralized construction and deployment of pipelines in systems used for decentralization.

“This security incident is a clear reminder that Web3 is only as secure as the weakest link. If users cannot verify that the interfaces interacting with them are real, then decentralization makes no sense,” he said.

De Moura also added that the general misunderstanding of Web3 security is that smart contract violations are one of the most effective forms of hacker communication. However, he believes that Lazarus’s strategy on bybit proves this. Injecting malicious code into front-end or other off-chain components is much more seamless.

“Hackers don’t need to directly violate smart contracts or manipulate bybit’s systems. Instead, they inject malicious code into the front-end interface, tricking users into thinking they are using a trusted platform,” he explained.

Despite these vulnerabilities, it can transition from trust-based verifiable security.

Reproducible build situation

De Moura sees Bybit Hack as a wake-up call for the Web3 community. When communications and developers reevaluate their security, he believes that verifiable reproducible builds are crucial to prevent future attacks.

“Essentially, a reproducible build ensures that when the source code is assembled, it always produces the same binary output. This ensures that software users interact with third parties somewhere in the deployment pipeline has not changed,” he said.

Blockchain technology It is crucial to ensure that this process occurs.

“Imagine a system where each software build generates binary files and resources in a verifiable way and stores them on the chain with their fingerprint (or checksum). They can be executed on dedicated blockchain processors or decentralized computers, rather than running such builds on cloud servers or computers that are susceptible to security vulnerabilities. Carapace,” Mura told Beinchrypto.

Users can compare the checksum of the front-end resource they are loading through browser plugins or features. Successful matching indicates a real build interface, while differences indicate potential tradeoffs.

“If a verifiable repeatability building method has been applied to security, it can be prevented from exploiting. The malicious front-end will not be able to verify with the chain record, and the attack will be exposed immediately,” Mura concluded.

This approach provides a useful alternative to relying on users with different levels of Self-customer Knowledge.

Solve the gap in user knowledge

As attacks become more complex, the lack of user knowledge about how to safely monitor digital assets can bring significant vulnerability.

Bybit Hack frustrated users initially believed that the reliance on third-party integration was enough to protect their assets. It also influences a broader view of cryptocurrency security.

“This shows that cryptocurrencies are still in the wild west and are in a growth phase in terms of security. I think in a few years we will have excellent security, but in the current state, the public fear is good,” Khalsa said.

Ultimately, it is crucial to build a safer and more resilient ecosystem for the Web3 community. A good starting point is to demand better industry practices and to evaluate the integration of verifiable repeatability builds.