Tuesday 23 Apr 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 30): The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has issued a fresh warning for investors on decentralised finance (DeFi) platforms, which have so far been targeted with US$1.6 billion (RM7.18 billion) in exploits in 2022.

The bureau made a public service announcement on its Internet Crime Complaint Center on Monday (Aug 29), saying the exploits have caused investors to lose money — advising investors to conduct diligent research about DeFi platforms before using them, while also urging platforms to improve monitoring and conduct rigorous code testing.

The agency warned that cybercriminals are seeking to take advantage of "investors' increased interest in cryptocurrencies", and "the complexity of cross-chain functionality and open source nature of DeFi platforms".

The FBI said cybercriminals are exploiting vulnerabilities in smart contracts that govern DeFi platforms in order to steal investors' cryptocurrencies.

Specifically, the FBI mentioned cases where hackers used a "signature verification vulnerability" to plunder US$321 million from the Wormhole token bridge back in February.

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