On February 21, Bybit was hit by a historic hack, resulting in the stolen Ethereum of about $1.5 billion. This incident quickly became a hot topic in the industry, triggering profound reflections on the security of crypto assets both inside and outside the currency circle. As the crypto market just recovered, the attack undoubtedly sounded a wake-up call for the industry, prompting exchanges to re-examine their security systems.

More than 500,000 ETHs were hacked, the largest theft incident in the history of the currency circle

It is reported that the attack occurred when Bybit's Ethereum multi-signature cold wallet was transferred to a hot wallet. The attacker used advanced phishing technology and social engineering methods to deceive the signatories into approving malicious transactions, resulting in the transfer of 514,000 ETHs to unknown addresses. Bybit CEO announced in X's post that the attacker successfully controlled the cold wallet by disguising the UI and URL, displaying the correct address while changing the smart contract logic.

The hacker of this attack has become the 14th largest ETH holder in the world, currently holding about 0.42% of the total supply of Ethereum tokens, exceeding Fidelity and Vitalik's ETH holders, and It is more than twice the Ethereum Foundation's ETH holdings. The scale of the attack and the amount involved are the largest in cryptocurrency history, which has dealt a heavy blow to the industry. The crypto market began to fall sharply when it showed signs of recovery for several consecutive days.

Before the news came out, the price of ETH rose to $2,845. Under the catalysis of market panic, the price of ETH fell 8% in a short time, and Bitcoin from the day The highest point fell nearly 5%, and other altcoins all saw a sharp decline, with the entire network liquidating more than US$400 million in a short period of time.

Luckily, thanks to Bybit's rapid response and technical and liquidity assistance from various industry participants, the theft incident was temporarily calmed down, and Ethereum prices returned again after a day's plunge. To above $2,700, the market panic eased.

The security of cryptocurrency exchanges has once again highlighted

This Bybit hacking incident has once again attracted widespread attention from the industry on the security of cryptocurrency exchanges. Because blockchain transactions are irreversible, once funds are stolen, they are almost impossible to recover. Therefore, the exchange must adopt multi-level security measures to protect the asset security.

4E, as the global partner and the only recommended trading platform of Argentina, always put asset custody security first, and through a series of advanced and strict security and risk control mechanisms, it provides users' assets with trustworthy Security protection.

1. Separate multiple sets of wallets and strictly match hot and cold wallets. 4E adopts multiple wallet separation mechanisms, strictly match hot and cold wallets, and more than 95% of user funds are stored in offline cold wallets, avoiding the risks brought by the Internet from the source and ensuring the maximum safe isolation of user assets.

2. Multi-signature ensures the security of the private key. This attack exposed loopholes in the process of transferring funds in cold wallets, especiallyIt is the weakness of multi-signature wallets when facing advanced phishing attacks. Attackers deceive signers by pretending to be UI and URLs, which shows that the signature verification process is also the focus of security protection. The 4E Multi-Signature Wallet requires approval from multiple signers. The signature process is encrypted layer by layer, and combines hardware security modules and strict verification processes to ensure tamper-freeness and effectively prevent similar attacks.

3. Strictly standardize requirements and process standards. 4E strictly follows specification requirements and process standards in every link of asset management. At the same time, mechanisms such as minimum permissions and multi-person back-to-back isolation operations are also applied in actual operations to minimize the possibility of human risks. The decentralized and layered management method makes no one person’s mistakes or mistakes affect the security of the entire platform’s funds.

4. Regular security audits. 4E cooperates with leading security companies in the industry to conduct regular security assessments to promptly discover and fix potential vulnerabilities. In addition, we have established a week-based offensive and defense drill mechanism with partners to simulate hacker infiltration and invasion and improve security investigation and protection capabilities. At the same time, it isolates important intranet servers, establishes permission control, account permission recovery, etc., to prevent information leakage caused by excessive permissions, establishes various audits and monitoring, and centrally store, process, and warn logs.

5. USD 100 million insurance fund: 4E has a special insurance fund to deal with emergencies of security. By distributing part of the platform's income into the fund, it is specifically used for various potential accidents and is called at any time when needed, providing additional security for traders' assets. At present, the cumulative risk protection fund of 4E has exceeded US$100 million.

4E platform has a series of strict security measures that have greatly reduced the risk of asset theft and have also proved its efficiency and reliability in previous operations. Over the years, 4E has always maintained a good record of zero accidents and has not experienced any major safety incidents, which has won the trust of users and good reviews in the industry.

This Bybit hacking incident has undoubtedly cast a shadow on the cryptocurrency industry, but it also provides an opportunity for reflection and progress for industry development, which helps promote the simultaneous upgrading of technology and regulation. The prospects of the crypto industry are full of hope, and the ever-increasing security guarantee will become the driving force and cornerstone of the industry's continued prosperity.