Layerswap domain hijack ends, $100k stolen funds to be refunded
Layerswap, a platform facilitating transactions between centralized cryptocurrency exchanges and layer-2 blockchains, has regained control over its domain after it was briefly hijacked, leading to the loss of approximately $100,000 from users.
The security breach occurred on March 20 at 19:40 UTC, when the layerswap.io domain was taken over, redirecting users to a phishing site. Shortly after the domain compromise, the attacker also attempted to reset Layerswap’s social media account on platform X, effectively locking out the company.
According to Layerswap, GoDaddy’s slow response allowed the hacker to maintain control of the domain for a longer period of time. Around 23:07 UTC, LayerSwap recovered access to their GoDaddy account and undid the hacker’s changes. The business stated:
“In pursuit of understanding how the breach occurred, we engaged with GoDaddy support for explanations but were left without concrete answers. We agreed to receive a detailed report via email, which we plan to share with our community for transparency.”
The sophisticated Layerswap phishing scheme was able to drain around $100,000 in cryptocurrency holdings from approximately 50 individuals. The company intends to fully repay the impacted users and offer an additional 10% as compensation for the inconvenience.
The company advised investors to revoke their token authorizations as a precautionary measure to prevent further losses and has initiated the refund process for those impacted.
On March 20, hardware wallet provider Trezor was also targeted in a sophisticated cyberattack, resulting in the loss of at least $8,100. Cybercriminals sent out deceitful messages about a non-existent “$TRZR” token presale on the Solana Network, directing Trezor’s followers to fraudulent websites equipped to drain wallets.
Amid these security breaches, the United Nations Security Council released a report highlighting North Korea’s increasing involvement in cyberattacks, which are now a major source of its foreign currency earnings. The report estimates that North Korea has garnered almost $3 billion through cyber heists, underscoring the vulnerabilities present in the cryptocurrency sector’s security measures.
