The WazirX Heist: Unraveling a $235 Million Crypto Breach
Inside the Hack: A Tale of Deception and Exploitation
The breach targeted both hot and cold wallets of WazirX, India’s largest crypto exchange, leading to substantial financial losses. According to the police, Alam played a pivotal role by fraudulently creating an account under the alias ‘Souvik Mondal’ and subsequently selling the login credentials to an individual known as “M Hasan” through Telegram.
The chargesheet, as reviewed by Decrypt, reveals that Alam was enticed by a buyer who promised a lucrative sum for crypto accounts with complete credentials. In exchange for his WazirX account credentials, Alam reportedly received a modest sum of 08 USDT in his Binance account. Further investigations uncovered that Alam had received crypto deposits worth $107,000 in the WazirX account created using his credentials.
The hackers employed a calculated approach by draining WazirX’s hot wallet of GALA tokens, compelling the exchange to transfer more assets from its cold wallet. This maneuver eventually allowed the attackers to access WazirX’s multisignature wallet, facilitating the theft of millions in cryptocurrency.
Investigation Challenges and Findings
Throughout the investigation, WazirX cooperated fully with the authorities, providing essential data such as KYC records and transaction logs. However, challenges arose when attempting to obtain critical data from Liminal Custody, the third-party service responsible for securing the exchange’s cold wallets. The police noted that Liminal was uncooperative, failing to provide logs that could help trace the money trail and identify other culprits involved in the scheme.
The investigation is still active, with authorities planning to file a supplementary chargesheet once more information is gathered from entities like Telegram and Liminal Custody.
For more insights into the challenges of securing digital assets and the importance of robust cybersecurity measures in the crypto industry, explore our detailed analysis on securing talent in crypto and the ongoing battle against crypto calamities.
