In a tumultuous start to the year, web3 platforms grappled with a series of cyberattacks, resulting in the theft of nearly $50 million in January. Quantstamp, a decentralized finance (defi) security startup, identified five smart contract protocols bearing the brunt of these exploits, tallying losses of $38.9 million. The attacks employed various vectors, including smart contract vulnerabilities, key compromises, and scams.
The first blow came on January 4th when Gamma Strategies fell victim to a flash loan attack, leading to a $6.1 million drain from its public-facing vaults. The vulnerability was swiftly addressed by Gamma, which temporarily halted deposits to close the loophole, safeguarding approximately $500,000 denominated in Ether (ETH) during the incident.
Radiant Capital encountered a $4.5 million loss on January 3rd due to an empty market exploit, coincidentally just hours before Gamma’s attack. Peckshield attributed the issue to a brief activation of new markets on lending protocols. Radiant paused its Arbitrum-based USDC pool to rectify the problem, assuring users that their funds remained secure, and resumed operations after an investigation.
On January 16th, Socket, a multi-chain protocol, faced a breach via a user verification input vulnerability, resulting in the siphoning of almost 2,000 ETH worth over $4 million. Despite the setback, Socket managed to recover 1,032 ETH, valued at approximately $2.3 million, and reimbursed all affected users as part of their recovery plan.
Goledo Finance experienced a security breach akin to Gamma’s exploit, with hackers employing a flash loan attack to steal $1.7 million. Negotiations with the culprit were ongoing, and Goledo initiated a reward for the returned funds. Centralized exchanges froze the hacker’s accounts, and Goledo collaborated with local law enforcement to address the situation and formulate a recovery plan.
Finally, Wise Lending suffered a flash loan attack on January 12th, resulting in losses of at least $460,000. This exploit involved manipulating the price oracle used by Wise Lending. Notably, this marked the second attack on the protocol within six months, emphasizing the persistent challenges faced by crypto platforms in the ongoing battle against cyber threats.
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