Arbitrum will be broadcasting its eponymous cryptocurrency this Thursday (23). However, an Arkham Intelligence study points out that more than 2,400 wallets have been compromised.
In other words, the hacker will manage to empty all these wallets before their real owners can cash in their cryptocurrencies. As a result, this may also affect the price of ARB in the market due to the size of the potential sale.
As a recommendation, the security company is asking investors to revoke access to third-party applications. However, he noted that the hacker might have access to the wallet’s private keys, meaning that alone wouldn’t be enough.
2,400 portfolios exhibited at Arbitrum
It is estimated that the beneficiaries of the Arbitrum (ARB) airdrop will receive a minimum of R$28,000 this Thursday (23), but the amount could be much higher. The values certainly caught the attention of hackers.
A report from Arkham Intelligence indicates that approximately 2,400 wallets have been compromised. Basically, the hacker will steal the airdrop cryptocurrencies as soon as they land on the victims’ addresses.
“A hacker at Arbitrum has sent money to about 2,400 suspected compromised wallets in the past 12 hours”according to Arkham Intelligence. “These wallets then approve the ARB token before receiving the airdrop.”
“The completed transaction allows the hacker contract to withdraw his ARB tokens from his wallet.”
Given the expected value of the airdrop multiplied by the number of affected wallets, we can estimate the hack to be around BRL 67 million. However, the amount can be much higher as some wallets will receive more than 625 ARB.
In addition to affecting victims, the hack may also cause the price of Arbitrum (ARB) to drop immediately. After all, a sale of this size would have serious consequences for the market. In addition, potential buyers may also give up on this news, which would further hurt the value of the ARB in the near term.
What to do if your wallet has been hacked?
Finally, Arkham Intelligence recommends that affected users revoke authorizations for third-party contracts. However, keep in mind that this will not be enough to completely cancel the hacker’s action.
“The best course of action would be to withdraw the approval immediately – and revoke it if other approval transactions appear before the airdrop claim”, He wrote the security company. “Of course the hacker can always transfer your ARBs manually if they have your private keys, but they can’t use the smart contract to do it automatically.”
To proceed, the user would have to quickly transfer their ARBs to another address, trying to anticipate the hacker’s movement.
Finally, the Arbitrum team did not take a public position on the case. However, everything indicates that nothing will be done to prevent the attack.
Source: Live Coins
Barry Siefert is an accomplished journalist and author at The Nation View. He is known for his expertise in the field of cryptocurrency, and has written extensively on the topic. With a background in finance and economics, Barry has a deep understanding of the underlying technology and market forces that drive the crypto industry.
