Horizon is a United States-based blockchain bridge, a service that links Ethereum with the Harmoney blockchain platform. It is a widely established platform; however, unfortunately, was struck by a 100 million dollar loss to a crypto hack. This article aims to guide you on crypto hacks and how Horizon Blockchain Bridge was the latest crypto hack victim.

What is a Crypto hack? And how was Horizon Blockchain Bridge attacked?

Crypto hacks are no small feight. It is an act of stealing cryptocurrencies, which rudimentary phishing schemes may accomplish. Many businesses are lured into the often villainous plans of crypto hackers and get much of their money stolen. In this case, the attackers exploited a significant vulnerability that was been warned off by outside security researchers on social media for months on hand. While Harmoney is being private about the actual cause of the breach, it was decided that Horizon bridge be closed as the company manages to remediate the issue. 

Blockchain bridge is the latest in a string of high-dollar attacks on Ethereum services:

While Harmoney has multiple blockchain bridges to various currencies, the crypto hacks have appeared only to impact the bridge connected to Ethereum. While Harmoney has not told what caused the crypto hack, Twitter has been handling theories and forecasting the dilemma. On June 23rd, a tweet from the company showcased a wallet address that the hackers had apparently used to process the stolen funds and managed to convert everything to Ethereum. Moreover, updates were handed out from the company on June 27th regarding how the hackers were moving the stolen assets through the Tornado Cash platform to maintain anonymity. It was also postulated that the company offered a $1 million bounty with a promise of no criminal charges if the funds were to be returned discreetly. While the company has been sending out updates, it is said that the Horizon blockchain bridge was closed on June 23rd as a part of the investigation and is yet to make its comeback. 

As you can tell, Twitter has played a significant part in articulating theories about what may have happened. Twitter user “Ape Dev” has come close to the tracks by first pointing out that the entire system relies on a wallet, which then authorizes transactions with four owners. Hence, two of the four signers will be required to confirm the transaction. The crypto hackers must have used this opening to their advantage as they compromised two of these accounts through various means, such as obtaining private keys through any breaching software. It is also said that it is possible to be an insider job or credential if two of the necessary signature accounts are being founded in a breach elsewhere.

This article gives you an idea of how crypto hackers can cause significant damage to your business. This serves as a prime example and you should learn the give and takes this example serves. Hence, staying vigilant is the key to attaining a secure platform.