Alleged North Korean Cybercriminal Suspected of Attacking Indexed Finance’s Treasury
ZachXBT, a sleuth who explores transactions on the blockchain, claims that an attack on Indexed Finance’s treasury might be linked to a cybercriminal from North Korea. The attack, which took place on Nov. 18, targeted the remaining funds of Indexed Finance, a decentralized protocol for passive portfolio management on Ethereum.
“There’s currently an ongoing hostile governance attack taking place against the remnants of the Indexed Finance treasury – 36K in DAI and approx. 48K in NDX before slippage,” said Laurence Day, a team member of Indexed Finance.
Laurence Day, Indexed Finance team member
Day was surprised by the attack and alerted community members, who used their tokens to prevent the hacker from taking control. At the time of the attack, 413,000 votes were cast against the proposal, while the hacker received 402,000 votes. The attack caused a 14% drop in the price of NDX.
North Korean Ties Suspected in Indexed Finance Treasury Attack
ZachXBT further revealed that the same hacker also attempted to attack Relevant, a news-sharing and discussion platform. The wallet used by the hacker was reportedly funded by a North Korean IT worker, Alex Chon.
In 2021, Indexed Finance fell victim to a $16 million flash loan attack. Andean Medjedovic, a University of Waterloo graduate, was later charged with stealing crypto from the platform in a civil lawsuit. Despite an arrest warrant, authorities have been unable to locate him.
Hot Take: North Korea’s Role in Hostile Governance Attacks
The notion of a North Korean connection to cyber attacks on decentralized finance projects is concerning. It underscores the need for robust security measures within the DeFi space to protect against malicious actors. These incidents should serve as a wake-up call for greater diligence and monitoring to safeguard user funds and prevent such attacks in the future.
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