In a concerning wave of cyberattacks, the Discord servers of several major blockchain projects, including Avalanche and ZKsync, were compromised over the weekend. These incidents occurred just 48 hours after a similar breach on Polygon’s Discord, raising alarms across the crypto community.
Series of Discord Attacks Targeting Blockchain Projects
On August 25, Avalanche announced via X (formerly Twitter) that its Discord server had been compromised. The attackers posted links to fraudulent token distribution schemes, falsely claiming that AVAX holders and community members could claim free tokens. Avalanche’s community lead, Ben Well, responded quickly, stating that the team had identified and resolved the issue within an hour, and was working to restore normal operations on the server.
However, just an hour later, ZKsync’s official Discord was also targeted by hackers. Similar to the Avalanche attack, the perpetrators shared links to a bogus “round 2 airdrop” scheme, promising free ZK tokens to unsuspecting users. Although ZKsync has not formally addressed the exploit on X, several team members acknowledged the breach on their Discord server.
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These attacks came on the heels of a similar incident involving Polygon’s Discord server. On August 23, hackers breached Polygon’s server and shared malicious links, tricking users into interacting with fake token distribution announcements. Polygon’s Chief Information Security Officer, Mudit Gupta, confirmed the breach and warned users to avoid clicking on any links until the situation was under control. Unfortunately, one user, known as ValidatorK, reported losing $150,000 worth of Ether after engaging with what appeared to be an official announcement on Polygon’s server.
The Growing Threat of Discord Exploits in Crypto
The recent string of Discord compromises adds to an alarming trend of such exploits targeting blockchain projects. Earlier in the year, on March 25, 2023, a phishing scam circulated on the Arbitrum Discord server. This scam, believed to have been carried out through a hacked developer account, involved a fake announcement that contained a malicious link. Similarly, on May 5, the Gnus.AI network suffered a Discord-related attack, resulting in losses of approximately $1.27 million.
These incidents highlight the increasing vulnerability of Discord servers, particularly within the crypto space. As these platforms are crucial for community engagement and official communications, they have become attractive targets for cybercriminals seeking to exploit users’ trust.
