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Phantom renders Solana vulnerable to hacks?
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Phantom renders Solana vulnerable to hacks?

Daniela Kirova
Daniela Kirova
January 31st, 2023
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  • Red flags raised over the next possible mechanism of stealing NFTs
  • A malicious contract instigates Solana token transfer
  • Security company expressed concerns about the wallet’s security mechanism

Blockchain security company Slowmist has issued users a warning about the increasing frequency of phishing attacks on Solana’s network. These kinds of attacks are becoming more and more common, the company alarmed, cited by CoinGape. As you may recall, Solana lost $320 million worth of Ethereum from its DeFi token bridge Wormhole.

Users lost $25B in 650 hacks worldwide

The cryptocurrency and NFT space is full of risk of cybercrimes. According to data of Slowmist, people have lost a total of $25 billion in more than 650 hacks worldwide.

The blockchain security company has raised red flags over the next possible mechanism of stealing NFTs. They outline the process:

· The attacker airdrops NFTs to users in batches

· The user gets a link in the airdrop, www.officialsolanarares.net.

· They access the target website through the link

· They connect to the wallet

· They click “Mint” on the page.

· After approval, all SOL in the wallet will be transferred.

Malicious contract is activated

By clicking Approve, the user becomes vulnerable to the threat conceived by the attacker. This is a malicious contract that instigates Solana Transfer. According to Slowmist, such phishing attacks are on the rise and Solana’s Phantom wallet may be to blame.

The issue with Phantom

The company has expressed concerns about the wallet’s security mechanism. It’s easy for users to be harmed because of the lack of a full risk warning.

Increasing phishing attempts are leading to a security blind spot, inflicting harm on users and their investments. The Wormhole hack was a huge sign that Solana needed to tighten the security on its blockchain.

Phantom underwent a revamp to strengthen its cyber defenses last year, Phantom’s Chris Kalani reminded, stressing:

We need to protect users from losing their funds from the phishing scams.

Good news for the victims of the biggest breach in DeFi

Poly Network lost $600 million in a hack, which has gone down in history as the biggest breach in the DeFi space. The hacker returned the majority of the stolen assets.

About Solana

Solana is a highly functional open source project that banks on blockchain technology’s permissionless nature to provide decentralized finance (DeFi) solutions.

The Solana protocol is designed to facilitate decentralized app (DApp) creation. It aims to improve scalability by introducing a proof-of-history (PoH) consensus combined with the underlying proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus of the blockchain.

Because of the innovative hybrid consensus model, Solana enjoys interest from small-time traders and institutional traders alike.

Contributors

Daniela Kirova
Writer
Daniela is a writer at Bankless Times, covering the latest news on the cryptocurrency market and blockchain industry. She has over 15 years of experience as a writer, having ghostwritten for several online publications in the financial sector.