In a major blow to the cryptocurrency community, GDAC, a popular South Korean exchange, has fallen victim to a hack that resulted in a loss of nearly $13 million. The incident has sent shockwaves through the industry and raised concerns about the security of digital assets.
GDAC, which is one of the leading cryptocurrency exchanges in South Korea, reported the security breach on April 9, 2023. According to the exchange, the hack occurred during the early morning hours when unauthorized access was gained to its hot wallet, which is used to store cryptocurrencies that are actively traded.
GDAC falls victim to the latest hack
According to reports, the GDAC crypto exchange was hacked for approximately $13.9 million in cryptocurrency. According to an April 10 announcement from GDAC CEO Han Seunghwan, the exchange has halted all deposits and withdrawals and is performing emergency server maintenance in response to the attack.
According to the announcement, the attacker took control of some of the exchange’s hot wallets on April 9 and began moving crypto into wallets under the attacker’s control at 7 a.m. Korean Standard Time. The attack resulted in the theft of approximately 61 Bitcoin, 350.5 Ether, 10 million WEMIX gaming coins, and $220,000 in Tether. At April 10 prices, this equates to approximately $13.9 million in crypto.
Source: GDAC
According to the announcement, the amount stolen represents “approximately 23% of GDAC’s total custodial assets.”.
GDAC takes these measures after the hack
GDAC has taken immediate measures to address the security breach and protect its users’ assets. The exchange has halted all trading and withdrawals and is working closely with law enforcement authorities and cybersecurity experts to investigate the incident and track down the hackers.
GDAC stated that it had notified the authorities, including the Korean police and the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA), about the hack and requested a cyber investigation. GDAC is also requesting that cryptocurrency exchanges disallow deposits made from the attack-originating address.
As per the announcement – which was made in the Korean language (Hangul) – Google Translate puts the CEO’s words at:
We ask those in charge of exchanges handling virtual assets to immediately block the deposit from the address where the withdrawal occurred, as stated in the official notice.
GDAC CEO Han Seunghwan
Centralized exchange hacks remain a concern for the crypto industry. For example, in January 2022, Crypto.com was hacked for more than $15 million. In addition, a hacker drained $663 million from the failed crypto exchange FTX in the midst of a liquidity crisis. The GDAC attack could be the first significant hack of a centralized crypto exchange in 2023.
In the past 15 to 18 months, there have been notable hacks and exploits against crypto platforms. The largest was Axie Infinity’s Ronin bridge, which was hacked last year for $625 million. Sushi, a protocol for decentralized finance, was exploited for $3.3 million on Sunday.
Crypto hacks in 2023
After a slow start to the year, crypto hacking has begun to pick up the pace. In March, blockchain security firm Peckshield reported that $211 million was stolen from 26 crypto projects.
According to Peckshield, the March 13 cyberattack on Euler Finance (EUL) was responsible for over 90 percent of the losses. However, since then the hacker has returned all of the stolen crypto.
Also, according to data from DeFillama, in April, malicious actors stole $1.57 million from two crypto projects. Sentiment lost $1 million, while Allbridge was hacked for $570,000.
The breach at GDAC has once again brought to light the pervasive cybersecurity threat in the crypto industry. Despite technological and security advancements hackers continue to target exchanges and exploit vulnerabilities to gain access to valuable digital assets.
This incident serves as a stark reminder for crypto investors to maintain vigilance and caution with their holdings, and for exchanges to continuously enhance their security protocols to prevent future attacks.
