Crypto online casino site hacked for over $40 million
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Cryptocurrency-related crimes and scams have been in the news a lot in recent months – from the collapse of FTX to cyberattacks linked to North Korea’s Lazarus Group. An online gambling site that accepts crypto experienced a hack of its own this week, siphoning off millions of dollars in game funds.
Crypto gambling site Stake.com lost $41 million after being hacked earlier this week. Cointelegraph.com reports that three different cryptocurrencies were moved from the site to an account that had not previously seen any activity.
The site noted, “Crypto gambling site Stake experienced a $41 million withdrawal on September 4, in what blockchain security analysts have called a ‘suspicious outflow.’” “The withdrawal account has been labeled ‘Stake.com hacker’ by Etherscan, which means the withdrawal may be the result of stolen private keys.”
Stake is an offshore gaming site offering online casinos, sports betting and more. The platform also operates a free-to-play US site.
According to Beosin Alert, a real-time online security and auditing firm, the company accepts multiple forms of cryptocurrencies, and crypto thefts involved withdrawals in the following amounts.
● Ethereum – $15.7 million
● Polygon – $7.8 million
● BSC – $17.8 million
Although the site confirmed the hack and loss of funds, they reassured players that their funds were safe.
“Three hours ago, unauthorized (transactions) were made to Stake’s ETH/BSC hot wallet,” the team wrote on Twitter. “We are investigating and will pick up the purses as soon as they are completely secure.”
Stake CEO Ed Craven said the company keeps a small portion of its crypto reserves in a “hot wallet” in case of this type of hack. He added that the wallets of any players affected will be available soon.
Latest Hacked Gaming Site
This is not the first time that online gaming sites have been hacked in some way. In May, there was an attack on DraftKings that compromised the accounts of 60,000 players. In the same month, an attack on a technology provider completely shut down Holland Casino Online. The cyber attack reportedly caused similar problems for other online gambling sites around the world.
In April, French online gaming site Howlgate was hit by a ransomware attack that shut it down for several days. Last September, PokerStars experienced a series of DDoS attacks during the annual World Championship of Online Poker. The site eventually canceled several events and was later forced to run them after the problems were resolved.
According to Security Magazine, cyberattacks can be costly – costing operators an average of $4 million per incident, not to mention recovering any lost player funds.
Some experts believe that the gaming environment may not always be in line with the latest advances in online security.
“A major security challenge facing the online gaming industry is that regulations in major markets have lagged behind,” Security Report. “This has made online gaming a surefire option for hackers. In the past year, security leaders have seen several high-profile breaches across the industry.
*Image credit: Pexels – Karolina Grabowska
