Polygon Recovers Discord Server After $145K Hack, Preps for POL Token Launch

Polygon’s Discord server has been recovered after a three-hour hijack by hackers targeting the project’s community channel.

The infiltration, which involved scammers posing as support agents and disseminating malicious links, has now been resolved, confirmed Mudit Gupta, the Chief Information Security Officer at Polygon.

Polygon Community Members Detect Unusual Activities

The incident came to light after Polygon community members detected unusual activities on the channel.

The hackers flooded the support channel with scam links while masquerading as helpful agents.

One Polygon Discord member took to the social media platform X to alert others about the potential breach.

He shared the suspicious links posted in the announcement channel and detailing the deceptive tactics in the support channel.

I reported it here https://t.co/sGcLGws0sz

Not sure if any one took notice. I could see a lot of people asking for help in support and scammers, under the guise of help, misleading them.

— shadab.eth ✈️🏨 (@shadabk2005) August 24, 2024

Nevertheless, the breach has taken some victims as a user known as “ValidatorK,” reported a loss of $150,000 in Ether (ETH) after following what was presented as an official announcement.

The breach not only compromised significant assets but also brought to light concerns over Polygon’s security protocols, despite Gupta’s assurance that two-factor authentication (2FA) was enabled for all privileged accounts.

The breach occurred amidst preparations for a major network upgrade by Polygon, which includes the transition from its native token, MATIC, to a new token, POL, slated for launch on September 4.

Discord hacks have become increasingly troublesome, particularly within the cryptocurrency community where Discord is a primary communication tool.

These channels, which are often repositories of critical information and asset management tools, have become hotspots for cybercriminal activity.

Earlier this year, similar incidents were reported with other prominent crypto platforms.

On March 25, the Arbitrum Discord server was compromised, allowing hackers to plant a phishing link in the official channel.

Another breach was reported on May 5, when Gnus.AI’s Discord server was hacked, leading to a loss of approximately $1.27 million.

Illicit Crypto Transactions Drop in 2024

A recent Chainalysis report revealed a decline in overall illicit cryptocurrency transactions in 2024, even as specific types of criminal activities within the sector surged.

Released on August 15 as part of the mid-year crypto crime update, the report found that hacking and ransomware attacks were becoming increasingly prevalent.

Two categories, in particular – stolen funds through hacking and ransomware attacks – have seen an uptick.

By the end of July, the cumulative value of stolen cryptocurrencies had reached $1.58 billion – an 84% increase compared to the same period in 2023.

While the number of hacking incidents only increased slightly (2.8% year-over-year), the average value stolen per hack surged dramatically.

In July alone, hackers stole approximately $266 million through 16 separate breaches, dealing the crypto sector substantial losses.

The July 18 attack on Indian crypto exchange WazirX stands out. The attack alone accounted for over $230 million, or 86.4%, of the month’s total losses.